Adult separation anxiety: psychometric properties of a new structured clinical interview.

Separation anxiety has traditionally been characterized and assessed as a disorder that is unique to childhood. Yet the core symptoms of separation anxiety, i.e. excessive and often disabling distress when faced with actual or perceived separation from major attachment figures, may persist or even arise during adulthood. We report on the psychometric properties of a new structured clinical interview designed to assess symptoms of separation anxiety as experienced both during childhood and adulthood. This instrument, called the Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms (or SCI-SAS), was administered as part of an assessment battery to 91 adult psychiatric outpatients and 20 non-psychiatric controls. Results indicate that this instrument displays excellent psychometric properties, including good internal consistency, a clear factor structure, and exceptional levels of convergent and discriminate validity. These results highlight the feasibility and potential clinical utility of assessing age-appropriate symptoms of separation anxiety experienced during adulthood.