Parental representations associated with adult separation anxiety and panic disorder--agoraphobia.

OBJECTIVE

Early bonding abnormalities have been associated with a range of anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood, but no specific parental patterns have emerged for particular disorders. The present study investigated the possibility that parental overprotectiveness may be linked to a risk of separation anxiety (SA) in adulthood.

METHOD

Two samples were recruited: volunteers (n = 34) whose major anxieties focused on separation concerns, and adult anxiety clinic patients (n = 37) who were diagnosed with panic disorder. Parental characteristics and early SA were assessed by dichotomising the combined sample first according to adult SA categorisation and then by panic disorder status.

RESULTS

Subjects assigned to the adult SA category reported high levels of juvenile SA and exposure to maternal overprotectiveness, whereas patients diagnosed with panic disorder reported few differences in their bonding histories compared to residual anxious patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study suggest that early SA and parental overprotectiveness may not be associated with panic disorder per se, but rather with persisting SA symptoms in adulthood. The overlapping samples and retrospectivity of some measures are important limitations of the study.