Women who experienced the loss of a parent as a child are more likely to suffer from anxiety at the idea of separating from a romantic relationship, according to a new study.
- Separation anxiety disorder is characterized by a persistent, intense, and inappropriate fear of separation from a primary attachment figure, such as a parent or partner.
- One study shows that women who lost a parent in their youth have “higher levels of anxious attachment” toward their partner, as well as “higher levels of separation anxiety.”
- “In addition to feeling distressed when separating from their partner, these women may also experience anxious attachment or fear that other important people in their lives will not be available when needed,” according to the study .
Women who lost a parent during their youth may be more likely to feel certain “separation anxiety” with their romantic partners as adults. This is the finding of a recent study published in the journal Stress and health.
Women bereaved as children are more anxious
To reach this conclusion, researchers from Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel, in Israel, studied data from 60 women who lost one or both parents as children, and 60 women whose parents were still alive. They were between 18 and 62 years old, for an average age of 32.3 years.
Based on the responses to the participants’ questionnaires, they found that women who had experienced childhood bereavement “reported higher levels of anxious attachment” towards their partner, as well as “higher levels of separation anxiety”that is to say anxiety at the idea that their partner will one day leave them.
On the other hand, the two cohorts did not show any difference in terms of “avoidant attachment”, which is characterized by the avoidance of feelings, memories or desires which could scare away the attachment figure, the partner.
The influence of relationship duration on separation anxiety?
In detail, among women who lost a parent, separation anxiety and anxious attachment in adulthood peaked during the first five years of romantic relationships, and gradually declined after a decade.
“In addition to feeling distressed when separating from their partner, these women may also experience anxious attachment or fear that other important people in their lives will not be available when needed.”writes Ora Peleg, who directed the work, in a communicated.
The research team now plans to study “how the duration of a romantic relationship affects separation anxiety and anxious attachment” in women who suffered early parental bereavement during childhood.
