Separation anxiety in parents of adolescents: theoretical significance and scale development

Child Dev. 2001 Jan-Feb;72(1):284-98. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00279.

Abstract

Parents of adolescents commonly face separation-related issues associated with children's increasing independence and imminent leave-taking. The aims of this investigation were (1) to develop a reliable and valid measure of parental emotions associated with separation and (2) to validate the measure by relating it to other attributes (attachment relationship quality, parent-child communication, and parent-adolescent differentiation) assessed in mothers, fathers, and their adolescents. The newly constructed, 35-item Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale (PASAS) was administered to 686 parents of teenagers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 or college-bound freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported formation of two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both subscales showed distinctive patterns of change with child age. Parents' reports indicated that healthy adult attachment styles were associated with lower AAD and higher CSBR scores; children of parents who had higher AAD scores reported lower quality of attachment to both mothers and fathers.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
  • Anxiety, Separation / epidemiology*
  • Anxiety, Separation / psychology*
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Object Attachment
  • Parent-Child Relations*
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Psychological Theory*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*