Adult Separation Anxiety and TCI-R Personality Dimensions in Patients with Anxiety, Alcohol Use, and Gambling: A Preliminary Report

BACKGROUND Nowadays, adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) is an established diagnostic category but is little investigated in subjects with addictive behaviours. OBJECTIVE To assess the presence of ASAD among patients with addictive disorders in comparison with anxiety patients and measure the personality correlates in all these groups. METHODS 103 outpatients, meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for anxiety disorders (38 patients), alcohol dependence (30 patients), or pathological gambling (35 patients), were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms (SCI-SAS) and the Adult Separation Anxiety Checklist (ASA-27) for separation anxiety and by the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) for personality characteristics. RESULTS ASAD is detected in 34.2% of anxiety patients, 13.3% of alcoholics, and 11.4% of gamblers. Separation anxiety scores correlate positively with harm avoidance and negatively with self-directedness in all groups; further correlations are seen among addictive patients only, that is, self-transcendence for gamblers and cooperativeness for both alcoholics and gamblers. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of ASAD is lower among addictive patients than in those with anxiety disorders; correlations are found between separation anxiety and specific TCI-R dimensions, with some matching across the three diagnostic groups.