Separation anxiety in adulthood: dimensional or categorical?

Recent evidence suggests that a clinical form of separation anxiety can be observed in adults. An important question of relevance to defining the construct of adult separation anxiety is whether there is discontinuity between that constellation and other forms of anxiety. In the present study, 2 taxometric procedures—Mean Above Minus Below a Cut and Maximum Eigenvalue—were used to assess whether adult separation anxiety conformed primarily to a categorical or a dimensional pattern. The data were derived from a separation anxiety symptom questionnaire completed by 840 consecutive adult patients attending an anxiety disorders clinic. Although some results of the analysis were ambiguous, the overall findings suggested a dimensional pattern. The relevance of the finding to the status of adult separation anxiety is discussed.