Introduction
Separation anxiety is a developmentally appropriate reaction of distress to separation of the caregiver during infancy and central to the child’s psychological development (Blatt
2004; Bowlby
1988; Mahler
2000). Although most children adequately learn to regulate their distress reaction to separation, some children continue to experience anxiety following separation. When symptoms of separation anxiety persist, these behaviors can become highly problematic and debilitating (Jurbergs and Ledley
2005). In this case, normative fears and worries concerning separation of the caregiver become non-age-appropriate and are associated to school refusal and excessive truancy (Egger et al.
2003; Kearney and Albano
2004). Separation anxiety disorder is the most common anxiety classification below the age of 12 (Cartwright-Hatton et al.
2006). It is an antecedent of adult anxiety disorders and linked to depression in young adults (Hirshfeld-Becker et al.
2008). Symptoms of separation anxiety have been found to be more influenced by the shared environment than by heritability; therefore, gaining insight into familial factors that may maintain or exacerbate separation anxiety seems to be very important (Eley et al.
2008).
In developmental theories, great importance is attributed to issues of separation between mother and child, as it is central to the development of the child’s psychological self in a process termed separation-individuation (Mahler
2000). Also, studying separation may be central to understanding aspects of parenting (Hock et al.
1989). Object relations theory proposes that there is an optimal maternal distance, suited to the infant’s changing developing needs (Blatt
2004; Mahler
2000). It is suggested that when mothers do not have a healthy sense of self, it is more difficult to see herself as separate from the child, and experiences of separation bring about personal feelings of loss or rejection (Hock and Schirtzinger
1992). This process is termed maternal separation anxiety (Hock et al.
1989). The threatening feelings regarding separateness that are characteristic of maternal separation anxiety may lead to more protective behaviors in the mother (Barber and Harmon
2002), and as such, impede the separation-individuation process in children (Blatt
2004). Although research has begun to study some of these theoretical propositions, the overall line of reasoning requires empirical testing. A few studies have investigated the link between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in their children (Dallaire and Weinraub
2005; Hock et al.
2004; Mayseless and Scher
2000; Peleg et al.
2006). In a cross-sectional study, maternal perception of separation effects on her child was related to observed child separation anxiety in 38 preschoolers (Peleg et al.
2006). Further, maternal separation anxiety predicted symptoms of separation anxiety in 99 children at age six (Dallaire and Weinraub
2005), and prior maternal worry predicted feelings of anxiety in 48 11-year-olds (Hock et al.
2004). In contrast, maternal separation anxiety was not related to fearful temperament in 97 infants (Mayseless and Scher
2000). These studies provide some evidence that maternal separation anxiety is related to child separation anxiety (Dallaire and Weinraub
2005; Hock et al.
2004; Mayseless and Scher
2000; Peleg et al.
2006), but it remains unclear how these anxieties (Cartwright-Hatton et al.
2006)are transferred from mother to child.
One construct that may function as an explanatory mechanism of the link between maternal separation anxiety and child separation anxiety is psychologically controlling parenting. Psychological control is an intrusive parenting tactic, characterized by pressuring and manipulative strategies such as love withdrawal, guilt induction, and conditional approval (Barber
1996). There is robust evidence showing that psychological control is related to internalized distress in adolescents (Barber et al.
2005; Soenens et al.
2008), and some in children Stone et al. (
2013b). In this study, we argue that one specific form of psychological control may explain the link between maternal and child separation anxiety. Subsequently, Soenens et al. (
2010) proposed that maternal difficulties with interpersonal relatedness and closeness may lead to specific controlling parenting tactics, termed dependency oriented psychological control. It is argued that love and care are made contingent on the child’s dependence on the parents. Indeed, dependency-oriented psychological control was strongly related to parental anxiety regarding separation in adolescents (Soenens et al.
2010).
Regarding dependency-oriented psychological control and child separation anxiety, theory and research also suggest a link between these constructs. Psychological control is hypothesized to represent a threat to the child’s emerging sense of self (Barber
1996), as the child may be unable to develop a stable representation of the mother as a caring person. This unstable representation of the mother may lead to fears of loss of love and abandonment when the child attempts to separate from the parent (Blatt
2004), potentially leading to difficulties in distancing, interpersonal differentiation, and boundary-formation for the child (Hock and Schirtzinger
1992). In line with the notion that parenting tactics aimed at keeping the child in close proximity are associated with anxiety regarding separation, it was found that dependency-oriented psychological control was related to dependent personality features and depressive symptoms in adolescents (Soenens et al.
2010). Another proposed mechanism is that children of intrusive and controlling parents lack experience with independence and may perceive novel and ambiguous situations as threatening, which may provoke anxiety in separation-laden contexts (Wood
2006). Accordingly, it has been found that intrusive parenting and separation anxiety are related in children (Wood
2006), and adolescents (Kins et al.
2011; Mayseless and Scharf
2009).
In sum, we argued that maternal psychological control may be an intervening variable between maternal separation anxiety and her child’s separation anxiety. To our best knowledge, only one study explicitly tested this proposed mechanism. In this study, the relation between maternal separation anxiety and separation-individuation pathology in a large sample of emerging adults was found to be partially mediated by dependency oriented psychological control (Kins et al.
2011). However, no studies have tested this mechanism in childhood, when separation anxiety is most salient (Cartwright-Hatton et al.
2006). The present study sought to answer the following research questions. First, is maternal separation anxiety related to separation anxiety in children? Second, is this relationship mediated by dependency oriented psychological control? Third, are these relations moderated by gender? Based on previous studies, we expect that maternal separation anxiety is associated with child separation anxiety and partially mediated by dependency oriented psychological control. In accordance with the notion that cultural stereotypes render females more vulnerable to problems with interpersonal relatedness and dependency, we hypothesize that mothers use more dependency promoting techniques towards their daughters (Blatt
2004), and that associations between maternal separation anxiety and their daughters’ separation anxiety are stronger than between mothers and sons.
Results
Maternal separation anxiety at T1 was strongly related to maternal separation anxiety at T2 (Table
1). Further, dependency-oriented psychological control at T1 was related to dependency-oriented psychological control at T2. A similar association was found for separation anxiety, indicating temporal stability of these problems in young children. Maternal separation anxiety at was related to dependency-oriented psychological control and separation anxiety concurrently, but not longitudinally. Dependency-oriented psychological control was related to maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children both concurrently and longitudinally. At both waves, more separation anxiety was reported by girls than boys, respectively [
t(296) = −2.38,
p < 0.05] and [
t(285) = −2.82,
p < 0.01]. No gender differences were found for the reports of maternal separation anxiety and dependency-oriented psychological control. Finally, on average, children reported more separation anxiety at T1 than at T2 [
t(284) = 4.18,
p < 0.01], and more maternal separation anxiety was reported at T1 than at T2 [t(217) = 3.15,
p < 0.01].
Table 1
Correlations between all study variables
1 | Maternal separation anxiety T1 | 2.50 (.38) | – | | | | | |
2 | DPC T1 | 3.15 (.94) | .15* | – | | | | |
3 | Separation anxiety T1 | 3.36 (.91) | .16* | .25** | – | | | |
4 | Maternal separation anxiety T2 | 2.43 (.38) | .77** | .12* | .17** | – | | |
5 | DPC T2 | 3.10 (.90) | .09 | .19** | .13* | .01 | – | |
6 | Separation anxiety T2 | 3.07 (.98) | .10 | .14* | .38** | .13* | .23** | – |
7 | Age T1 | 6.95 (1.13) | .03 | .08 | −.08* | −.04 | −.06 | −.15** |
The cross-sectional mediation model had adequate fit (χ2 (2) = 2.27, p = .32; CFI = .990; RMSEA = .023 (CI .000–.128); TLI = .966). A positive trend was found between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children (beta = .13, SE = .90, p = .05). Dependency-oriented psychological control was positively related to separation anxiety in children (beta = .24, SE = .09, p = .001). Maternal separation anxiety and dependency-oriented psychological control were positively marginally related (beta = .13, SE = .65, p = .059). Further, age was negatively related to separation anxiety in children (beta = −.13, SE = .27, p = .021), such that younger children reported more separation anxiety than older children. Gender was not related to separation anxiety (beta = .10, SE = .65, p = .10). The association between maternal separation anxiety and child separation anxiety was not statistically mediated by dependency-oriented psychological control (indirect effect = .03, SE = .02, p = .09). The model explained 10.4 % of the variance of separation anxiety in children.
In the first longitudinal model, we did not control for separation anxiety at T1. This model had adequate fit (χ2 (2) = 2.52, p = .324; CFI = .987; RMSEA = .022 (CI .000–.127); TLI = .956). Maternal separation anxiety at T1 was not related to separation anxiety in children at T2 (beta = .07, SE = .96, p = .24). Dependency-oriented psychological control at T1 was not related to separation anxiety in children at T2 (beta = .11, SE = .11, p = .09). Maternal separation anxiety at T1 was marginally related to dependency-oriented psychological control concurrently (beta = .13, SE = .64, p = .056). Further, age was again negatively related to separation anxiety at T2 (beta = −.19, SE = .31, p = .001), such that younger children reported more separation anxiety than older children. Gender was positively related to separation anxiety at T2 (beta = .17, SE = .74, p = .007), such that girls reported more separation anxiety than boys. The association between maternal separation anxiety at T1 and child separation anxiety at T2 was not statistically mediated by dependency-oriented psychological control (indirect effect = .02, SE = .01, p = .26). The model explained 7.7 % of the variance of separation anxiety at T2 in children.
The model in which we controlled for separation anxiety at T1 showed adequate fit to the data (χ2 (1) = .001, p = .97; CFI = 1.000; RMSEA = .000 (CI .000–.000); TLI = 1.122). Separation anxiety in children at T1 was associated with child separation anxiety at T2 (beta = .32, SE = .07, p = .000). Maternal separation anxiety at T1 was not related to separation anxiety in children at T2 (beta = .03, SE = .87, p = .57). Dependency-oriented psychological control at T1 was not related to separation anxiety in children at T2 (beta = .05, SE = .10, p = .44). Maternal separation anxiety at T1 was positively related to dependency-oriented psychological control concurrently (beta = 4.37, SE = 13.9, p = .003). Further, age was again negatively related to separation anxiety at T2 (beta = −.16, SE = .28, p = .003), and gender was positively related to separation anxiety at T2 (beta = .14, SE = .63, p = .011). The association between maternal separation anxiety at T1 and child separation anxiety at T2 was not statistically mediated by dependency-oriented psychological control (indirect effect = .22, SE = .17, p = .20). The model explained 18 % of the variance of separation anxiety at T2 in children.
Imposing constraints on the path loadings did not result in statistically significant model comparisons; the constrained models did not differ from the unconstrained models. These results indicate that the path coefficients do not differ among boys and girls.
Discussion
The current study investigated whether maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children were related cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a sample of five-nine-year-olds using innovative and age-appropriate measures for child-reports. Second, we investigated whether this relation was mediated by dependency-oriented psychological control. Results showed that maternal separation anxiety was related to separation anxiety in children cross-sectionally, albeit weakly, and not longitudinally. Moreover, dependency-oriented psychological control was related to separation anxiety in children cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally. Maternal separation anxiety was marginally related to dependency-oriented control. Further, there was no mediation of dependency-oriented psychological control, nor cross-sectionally or longitudinally. In conclusion, our findings do not support our hypotheses.
Studies on the association between maternal and child separation anxiety are scarce, and the available studies are hampered by small sample sizes (Dallaire and Weinraub
2005; Hock et al.
2004; Mayseless and Scher
2000; Peleg et al.
2006). Moreover, these studies were conducted in different developmental periods, making it hard to compare their findings. Although these studies were based on theoretical assertions (Blatt
2004; Hock et al.
1989), the theory is quite unspecific as to
when maternal separation anxiety should impact children, and for
whom this may be most disturbing. In the current study, we found that maternal separation anxiety was weakly related to separation anxiety in children, and we could not replicate previous findings regarding an association between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children over time. This shows that the available evidence for a link between maternal separation anxiety and separation in children is not supported. Although Dallaire and Weinraub (
2005) found a quite strong association between maternal separation anxiety and child separation anxiety in children over time, in the same developmental period as the children in our study, these authors measured maternal separation anxiety during infancy. This may be important, as it may indicate that current feelings of maternal separation anxiety may be not as important as feelings of maternal separation anxiety earlier in development. This reasoning coincides with the theoretical proposition that the first process of separation-individuation is hypothesized to take place during infancy (Mahler
2000), and with attachment research, where ample studies have shown that early mother–child interactions shape children’s ability to regulate their emotions (e.g., Bakermans-Kranenburg et al.
2003).
Therefore, other factors may be more important predictors of separation anxiety at this age than maternal separation anxiety. Although it is unclear whether well-known parenting tactics, such as low responsiveness and behavioral control predict separation anxiety in children, maternal sensitivity has been reported as predicting separation anxiety (Dallaire and Weinraub
2005). Further, scholars using a cognitive framework for studying separation anxiety have shown that separation-related interpretive biases in children are related to childhood separation anxiety (Bögels et al.
2003; In-Albon et al.
2009,
2010; Perez-Olivas et al.
2011). However, these findings may be hard to replicate in more ecologically valid research, such as the current study. Also, these experimental studies did not test whether these biases predict separation anxiety in children over time.
Second, dependency-oriented psychological control did not mediate the relation between maternal separation anxiety and child separation anxiety. This contradicts the findings of Kins et al. (
2011), who found dependency-oriented psychological control partially mediated the relation between maternal separation and separation issues in early adults. This divergence in findings may be due to the developmental period at hand. Our study focuses on early childhood where the child is not yet expected to separate from the mother. The study of Kins et al. focuses on early adults, where disconnecting from the parent and becoming independent is a salient developmental task (Arnett
2000). Possibly, younger children do not experience their mothers as being afraid of distancing, as these children
are usually in close proximity to their mother.
Third, we did not find that children experienced their mothers to use more dependency-oriented psychological control toward girls than boys. Further, associations between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children were not stronger for girls than for boys. Thus, our hypothesis regarding the moderating role of gender in separation anxiety was not supported. Therefore, the notion that females may be more vulnerable to problems with interpersonal relatedness and dependency due to cultural stereotyping (Blatt
2004), was not confirmed by this study. As no previous studies tested this hypothesized association (Blatt
2004), these findings primarily call for replication of studies using a similar design and sample.
A number of limitations to this study should be noted. First, our measure of dependency-oriented psychological control is rather short. This may impede the reliability and validity of this scale. Thus, it is questionable whether we really measured what we intended to measure. This being said, correlations show that there is stability of this construct, and that it is correlated to measures it is theoretically expected to be associated with. Still, future research should study this construct in adolescents, such that a well-validated self-report instrument can be employed (e.g. Soenens et al.
2010). Second, although we used multiple informants in this study, we did not include alternative measures of both our maternal and separation anxiety measures, and dependency-oriented psychological control. It has been argued that when measuring a construct, multiple methods should always be employed, as to be certain of the veracity of the measurement (De Los Reyes
2013). Such alternative methods could include questionnaires, but also observations of parent–child interactions (Barber
1996). Third, our sample is biased in that roughly half of our participants are highly educated. This may have led to typical problems found with highly educated samples, namely that there is less variance in problem behaviors.
In conclusion, this study found no associations between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children over time in young children, while using a large sample and different informants. Also, we did not find support for the mediating role of dependency-oriented psychological control. Future research is warranted in order to draw firm conclusions about the relations between maternal and child separation anxiety, and the possible mediating role of dependency-oriented psychological control. For future research the recommendations mentioned above should be taking into account.