Separation anxiety disorder among children and adolescents

Abstract

Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) can be defined as excessive, persistent, and unrealistic worry about separation from the people one is most commonly attached to like parents or other family members. The present paper reviews the presence, assessment, and treatment of separation anxiety disorder among children and adolescents. Individuals diagnosed with SAD often showcase a fear of an occurrence of a catastrophic event when and if separated from an attachment figure. People are well aware of its prevalence not only in young children but also in adolescents. Separation anxiety also acts as an intriguing topic for many researchers, as it is relatively common, yet it can be extremely impairing to a child’s social and emotional development. The prevalence of SAD is seen as 3.9% in childhood (6–12 years) and 2.6% in adolescence (13–18 years), according to two meta-analyses carried out with 13 and 26 epidemiological studies, respectively. SAD has a strong risk factor of 78.6% in the development of psychopathology in young adulthood, age 19–30 years. This makes the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of children having separation anxiety disorder extremely crucial and relevant for preventing the appearance of disorders such as panic and depression. Relaxation techniques and various behavior therapies along with medications are used in the treatment of SAD. Also encouraging constant support from parents, teachers, and caregivers to make the child or adolescent feel safe and can help them combat this disorder.