Psychological meaning of separation anxiety in mothers and fathers

Anxiety about separation from a child is highly salient to parents and, when studied in mothers, has been shown to relate to important personality attributes. This longitudinal study examined origins of separation anxiety, describing the course and significance of separation anxiety in parents of firstborn infants. Although no gender effects were found in mean levels of separation anxiety across the 1st 2 years of parenthood, regression analyses revealed different patterns of relations between separation anxiety and psychological and contextual variables for men and women. For men, only self-criticism and their wife's separation anxiety were significant; for women, separation anxiety was related to personality attributes (such as dependency and self-criticism), role-related beliefs, their spouse's anxiety about separation, and the unique health characteristics of their child.