Demogeot, Nadine

Difficulties adapting to school and separation anxiety disorders: Contributions of attachment theory - 2015.


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This exploratory study analyzes the links between separation anxiety disorders and their influences on how children aged six to twelve adapt to school. The original theoretical concepts adopted here refer both to attachment theory and to the psychoanalytical approach. The methodology involves comparing the responses of a control group of twenty children without difficulties at school to those of a clinical group of twenty children suffering from difficulties at school. On the one hand, semi-directive interviews conducted with parents and the questionnaires sent to teachers made it possible to specify the nature of difficulties at school and to identify possible separation anxiety disorders according to the DSM IV-R (2000). On the other hand, results from projective tests confirmed the existence of insecure attachment and of an inability to mentally elaborate separation anxiety among those children in the clinical subgroup.