Abstract
Child separation anxiety is one of most common anxiety disorder that strongly influence educational activities, social compatibility and adult anxiety disorders. However, all combination factors never studied in a fully integrated approach. This study aim to investigate some determining factors of such disorder, entirely. It was hypothesized that childhood anxiety can be predicted by a sequence of factors directly or indirectly. A sample of 620 mother-child pairs (6 and 7 years old girls and boys) were selected. Cattle Anxiety Scale (CAS) for Adults, Mother-Child Relationship Scale, Adult Attachment Scale, Child Attachment Assessment Scale, Children Incompatible Schema Questionnaire, and Child Symptom Inventory, using self-reported data were collected. Data was analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Relative fitness index for fitted model was 0.741 and incremental fitness index was higher than 0.9. In the standard model, a significant causal relationship between maternal anxiety and mother-child relation was observed. Mother-child relation, itself, in two paths, have effect on separation anxiety disorder (SAD) through intermediate variables of maternal attachment style, child attachment style and children incompatible schemas. One of present study limitations is the use of correlation plan and a causal interpretation of its results. The second limitations was the self-reporting feature of research tools that showed the results of perception of the participant from the measured structures. The measured structures may be influenced by different cultural, individual and family values. The findings of this study showed that except for the negative impact of two intermediate variables, namely mother-child relationship on maternal attachment style, in two directions of model, the positive coefficient relations indicate a positive effect on intermediate variables and finally dependent variable. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4S1p54
Highlights
Anxiety disorders are the most common class of mental disorders that impact on the life of some children and adolescents
Validity in the aforesaid study was calculated through synchronization validity method by early adolescent temperament questionnaire-revised (EATQ-R); Ellis & Rothbard (2001; quoted by Ghamkharfard et al, 2012) and a significant relation was obtained between internal variables of the two questionnaires
In order to identify effective factors on separation anxiety in children and study of its relationship with separated variables, the present research was conducted with the goal of formulating a causal model for separation anxiety in children based on variables including maternal anxiety, mother-child relation, maternal attachment style, child’s incompatible schemas and child’s attachment style
Summary
Anxiety disorders are the most common class of mental disorders that impact on the life of some children and adolescents. Emergence of different types of anxiety including separation anxiety in the course of child’s development has been considered as a kind of object relations and especially mother-child relationship from different viewpoints and especially mental analysts This relation plays an important role in causing anxiety in children (Bowlby., 1969; Besharat., 2004). Schemas play a role in personality organization and interpretation of individual experiences of events Considering their attachment styles, the viewpoints exercised by parents against their children play an important role in the formation, growth and development of children in the first years of life and emergence of anxiety disorders. Based on the reviewed researches and theoretical views for the variables affecting separation anxiety in children, efforts are made in this research to survey the priority of studied variables and to explain the structural model of separation anxiety in children
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