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

INTRODUCTION: The attachment processes give us a theoretical frame work to understand the psychopathological development. Unsafe attachment type is often associated with the emergence of psychopathology in the later periods of life. METHOD: This study includes 65 patients from 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) Panic-Agoraphobia Scale, Adults Separation Anxiety Scale, Relationship Scale Questionnaire were used. RESULTS: Separation anxiety levels showed statistically significant difference among panic disorder group and control group. According to means of attachment style solely obsessive sub-dimension showed statistical significance difference among the two groups. In panic disorder group separation anxiety showed significant difference according to gender and the presence of agoraphobia. When attachment styles of patients with an early parent loss or divorce of parents assessed anxious and obsessive sub-dimensions the difference were found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: High Comorbidity of panic disorder (dominantly coexisting 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 was no significant correlation 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.