Examination of Adult Separation Anxiety and Bonding Styles in Patients with Panic Disorder Who Applied to a Psychiatric Clinic

Abstract

Introduction: The attachment processes give us a theoretical framework to understandpsychopathological development. Unsafe attachment type is often associated with the emergence of psychopathology in later periods of life. Method: This study includes 65 patients from a psychiatry outpatient clinic with a diagnosis of panic disorder and 65 healthy volunteers as a control group.In order to determine clinical status and disease severity of patients with panic disorder according to SCID-I (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders-I) the Panic-Agoraphobia Scale, Adults Separation Anxiety Scale, and Relationship Scale Questionnaire were used. Results: The panic disorder group and control group had a statistically significant difference in separation anxiety levels. According to means of attachment style, only the obsessive sub-dimension showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. In the panic disorder group, separation anxiety had significant differences according to gender and the presence of agoraphobia. When attachment styles of patients with an early parent loss or divorce of parents was assessed for the anxious and obsessive sub-dimensions, the differences were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: High comorbidity of panic disorder (dominantly co-existing with agoraphobia) and adult separation anxiety was observed. This comorbidity was even higher in females. In both groups, obsessive attachment style was the highest among the attachment styles. In patients with panic disorder, there were no significant correlations between adult separation anxiety and/or existence of agoraphobia and attachment styles. Coexistence of adult separation anxiety and panic disorder was found to result in higher depression comorbidity rates.