Abstract

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD), or anxiety disorder due to separation in childhood, is diagnosed when the fear of separation from an attachment figure is the focus of anxiety. The level of separation anxiety has to be inappropriate for the age of the child and accompanied by impaired functioning. SAD is the most common anxiety disorder among children under the age of 12, with a typical onset at the age of 8-12 years. A common feature of separation anxiety disorder is avoidance behaviour, and if left untreated can lead to strong emotional distress or affect social life of a child, family and educational functioning. In this paper, we describe a boy aged 10 years and 5 months (4th grade of elementary school), who was referred for multidisciplinary team assessment, was diagnosed with anxiety disorder (with dominant separation anxiety problems) and was later included in cognitive-behavioural therapy. This article presents recent findings on cognitive-behavioural approach and treatment and discusses the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in assessment and treatment of SAD as well as the parents’ participation in CBT implementation to improve treatment outcome.