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Children experiencing separation anxiety display signs of distress when separated from their parents or primary caregivers. Separation anxiety is a normal phase of development typically evident between 10 and 18 months, and symptoms tend to dissipate by the time the child reaches the age of 2 or 3 years. Separation anxiety becomes a disorder when “the expected developmental levels are exceeded, resulting in significant distress and impairment at home, school, and in social contexts.” The detrimental effects of separation anxiety disorder (SAD) are particularly noticeable in schools, given that they form the setting where children are separated from their parents for the longest period of time. As such, school-based practitioners are in the unique position to identify and treat SAD. This chapter briefly reviews the diagnostic criteria and epidemiology of SAD, describes the Coping Cat program — the intervention of choice for this disorder — and discusses how it can be implemented in a school setting.

Anxiety disorders have the highest prevalence of any group of mental disorders. This chapter primarily focuses on three of these anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. These three anxiety disorders have shared characteristics, are often comorbid, can continue into adulthood, and are predictors of other adulthood anxiety disorders. In schools, where many children and adolescents spend large quantities of time, anxiety can hinder academic performance, inhibit social relationships, and impact other important areas of functioning. Anxiety disorders in children or adolescents should be assessed using tools with empirical support and should include information triangulated from several sources. Treatment should cater to the level of need, such as cognitive-behavior therapy with individuals or groups. Collaborating with teachers, parents, and other community members is important for addressing anxiety thoroughly. A case example portrays these aspects of anxiety disorders in school-age youth.

Anxiety disorders are considered the most common and earliest occurring mental disorders. They are associated with social, academic, and occupational impairment in childhood, and increased risk of a range of mental health problems throughout development and into adulthood. This chapter examines the prevalence, correlates, risk factors, continuity/outcomes, and treatment of specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, and obsessive–compulsive disorder over the life course. Also discussed are the implications of a life course approach on the epidemiology of anxiety disorders for clinical work, public health, and future research.

This chapter offers data and a model that may shed light on the developmental course of shyness and social inhibition. It describes the various psychological literatures to explore the short and long-term effects of three constructs commonly used to describe social reticence (behavioral inhibition, social isolation, and shyness) and their relationship to social phobia. It begins with a conceptualization of shyness. There is evidence for stability of behavioral inhibition over time, even though the associations are only moderate. In addition, correlates of behavioral inhibition include theoretically related constructs and disorders such as shyness, specific fears, separation anxiety, and social isolation. It is noted that there is much overlap in behavioral inhibition and social phobia, as well as some differences. However, it is likely that at least some of the children in these various categories suffer from the same condition, and the model proposes one heuristic conceptualization of the relationships among these constructs.

This chapter focuses on post-war popularization of the ideas of John Bowlby and fellow attachment psychologists. It suggests that this was an important dimension of the post-war social settlement, extending it into the realm of childcare and emotional security. Bowlbyism helped to justify reliance on the family, and women in particular, as the central providers of childcare. In cultivating a social democratic model of subjectivity, and in emphasizing the importance of freedom to play and relationships, it also, however, offered a social democratic vision of child development that could be in tension with the narrow landscape of home. The second half of the chapter traces the collapse of confidence in attachment and home as these tensions became apparent and as they came up against social changes including the problems of life in high flats and of social isolation, the realities of increasing levels of employment for women, and post-war immigration

Child and adolescent psychiatry is the medical specialty that works with children, young people, and families with emotional and behavioural problems. As children and young people are still developing and grow–ing, their emotional wellbeing and functioning needs to be thought about in this context, making it different from adult psychiatry. Communication with people of all ages is vital within the specialty and information from a wide variety of sources, including parents or carers, school, and peers, is used to inform the clinical picture, in addition to history-taking and direct observations of the child’s behaviour. Play is often used to understand younger children’s thoughts and feelings. In theory, the specialty covers children and young people from birth up to the teenage years, although different services cover slightly different age ranges. The spectrum of difficulties covered within the specialty include psy–chiatric disorders also seen in adults (such as psychosis); problems spe–cific to the age group (such as separation anxiety); lifelong conditions which start in childhood (such as ADHD); and conditions that may pre–sent in different ways in childhood or adolescence (such as phobias). Approaches to treatment include psychopharmacological interven–tions, and numerous therapeutic modalities including family therapy and CBT, which can be modified for different age groups. Most work is community based, although there are specialist inpatient units which offer on-going educational opportunities to young people who need the intensive support and risk reduction of a hospital admission. Work tends to be done within MDTs using a range of knowledge and expertise to offer the most appropriate care.

This chapter describes the development of the infant in the eighth month of life. In the eighth month, the author’s son is showing signs of separation anxiety for the very first time, clinging to his mom and dad in new or unfamiliar environments. The author points out that separation anxiety is generally taken as one of the first signs of attachment. She goes on to describe attachment and research on different attachment qualities between an infant and his or her caregiver. She discusses the factors that lead to an insecure attachment style, with a focus on the effect of institutionalization on children’s attachment.

People do need people, in particular they need to belong and be recognized as integral member of a group or community. Nothing is worse than being transparent to the gaze of others. We affirm and constantly probe our place via the co-existing and co-defining proclivities of inclusion and exclusion of the self in relation to others (dual centripetal and centrifugal forces). This process is universal. It applies equally for those protecting their inclusion privilege, such as belonging to a select group, or trying to acquire membership privilege. Both forces are complementary, under the same fundamental umbrella drive: the need to belong. This need drives relations of self to others from birth, and it is not just motivated by breast or access to food.