Separation Anxiety and Actual Separation Experiences during Childhood in Patients with Panic Disorder

OBJECTIVE: The association between separation anxiety in childhood and actual separation experiences during childhood has not yet been investigated in patients with panic disorder. METHODS: In 115 patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia and in 124 control subjects without a history of psychiatric illness, we assessed separation anxiety during childhood, retrospectively, using DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria and the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI). In addition, actual separation experiences from age 0 to 15 years were assessed, retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 22.6% of the patients and 4.8% of the control subjects fulfilled both DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria for childhood separation anxiety (chi 2 = 11.8; P < 0.0001). Further, 57.4% of the patients and 37.9% of the control subjects reported actual separation experiences during their childhood (chi 2 = 9.09, P < 0.003). Separation anxiety and actual separation experiences, however, were independent of each other. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that separation anxiety during childhood is not a consequence of actual traumatic separation experiences in panic disorder patients.