Traits of Separation Anxiety in Childhood: A Retrospective Study of Samoan Men, Women, and Fa’afafine

Abstract

Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood (GIDC) and Separation Anxiety Disorder have been found to be co-morbid for boys in Western populations. In a Samoan cultural context, fa'afafine are defined as androphilic males (i.e., biological males who are sexually attracted to and aroused by adult males) who are effeminate or transgendered and occupy an "alternative" gender role category, which is distinct from the gender normative categories of "man" and "woman." Because some Western clinicians would likely conclude that many of the fa'afafine had GIDC, we examined whether adult fa'afafine would also recall traits indicative of elevated separation anxiety in childhood. Given this, the present study compared retrospective reports of childhood separation anxiety for Samoan men, women, and fa'afafine. Our results indicated that Samoan fa'afafine recalled significantly more separation anxiety in childhood compared to Samoan men and women. These findings, coupled with research on U.S. and Canadian boys with GIDC, suggest that separation anxiety in childhood may represent a universal pattern of psychosexual development shared by most gender-atypical, androphilic males, regardless of their cultural milieu. As such, this study adds to a growing body of literature that documents the existence of cross-culturally invariant behavioral and psychological traits in male androphiles.