2.2 Separation Anxiety Disorder
Students who experience separation anxiety disorder have intense anxiety and feelings about being away from home. This usually affects their ability to function socially in and out of school. These students may have a great desire to stay at home or be close to their parents and will worry excessively about not being able to be with their parents (Centreforemotionalhealth.com.au, 2015). About four per cent of primary school aged children experience excessive separation anxiety when separated from the parent or primary care giver (Psych4schools.com.au, 2015).
Children experiencing separation anxiety may exhibit one or more of the following when separating from a parent;
crying hysterically shaking with fear
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temper tantrums being clingy, holding on to a parent’s hand or a leg, or hiding behind the parent withdrawing from others whinging shyness psychosomatic symptoms, such as headaches, stomach aches, vomiting lack of trust of teacher or other school staff refusing to speak (Psych4schools.com.au, 2015) These behaviours can have dire consequences for the primary school aged child as they are less likely to be able to form firm friendships and attachments with their peers and teachers.
These behaviours can also impact their social skills and abilities, academic levels may suffer due to prolonged absences and inability to concentrate in class. The child will also miss out on valuable socio cultural learning as they will miss the opportunity to scaffold their learning with their peers (Kids Matter, 2015).
Bandura’s social learning theory (Kearns, 2010) plays a major role in children’s learning and development as it provides opportunities for children to self-reflect on their own learning, behaviour and social interactions through observing their peers and gaining valuable feedback. Learning by observation gives the child the ability to gain self confidence in their own abilities and learn new skills.
Children who experience separation anxiety also miss out on socio cultural learning as they are unable to participate in group learning opportunities where they can scaffold their own learning through peer connections.
Separation anxiety is more likely to occur when children have parents or caregivers
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who; is over-protective focuses on negatives reassures excessively and gives in to the child’s demands allows the child to co-sleep with one or both parents has unresolved trauma or grief that still impacts on their life has on-going concerns about the child and their learning. (Psych4schools.com.au, 2015) Bowlby (as cited in Kearns, 2010) explained that attachment, separation, and reunion responses are learned as infants develop.
Insecure attachments can often result when an attachment relationship is threatened by the parent not consistently being available. Bowlby suggested that the level of anxiety that some children experience could be directly linked to the way in which the child is attached to their parents or primary caregivers. Bowlby also considered that inconsistently attached children were continuously afraid of being alone; this could be due to their parents or caregivers being unreliable and ignorant concerning the child’s
needs. This could lead children to perceive their environment as being; uncontrollable, unstable and unsafe, based on their parents’ unpredictable behaviours. When parents display nonchalant behaviour towards their child’s needs this leads to the development of negative self-evaluation. This in turn, can be quite debilitating as the child finds is very difficult to concentrate in class or form friendships with their peers (Ccsenet.org,. 2015). When the child is with the parent, they may cling to them refusing to go to school, the child may also experience repeated nightmares about separation and display physical symptoms such as stomach-aches and headaches, these symptoms can make it quite difficult to diagnose in some instances, as they mimic common ailments (Ccsenet.org,. 2015). 2.3 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Most people associate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with being exposed to or involved in a war, however (PTSD) is an ongoing reaction to any kind of trauma that an adult or child has experienced or been exposed to. PTSD is more common in children than frequently thought. The trauma may have occurred in an isolated event such as a car accident or house fire or more commonly, ongoing events such as child abuse (Centreforemotionalhealth.com.au,. 2015). Children and young people who are experiencing PTSD may be experiencing or display: Intense fear, helplessness or horror Agitation or disorganisation Inability to complete age-appropriate tasks Flashbacks (using any of the senses) Avoidance of trauma-related objects or activities Hyper-attentiveness, or an increase in alertness, with decreased attention-focusing ability Children may become more moody and even experience anger outbursts. May become jumpy at loud, sudden noises such as a car backfiring or skidding loudly, or a door slamming. Trouble concentrating Children may also report experiencing more physical symptoms such as head-aches and stomach-upsets following a traumatic event. Decline in academic performance Difficulties in sleeping, irritability at school. (Centreforemotionalhealth.com.au., 2015). Children who have PTSD may display out of character emotions, detachment from peers and lack of concentration. These can all impact on the learning and development processes as the child is unable to stay focussed on specific tasks, may find it hard to form social relationships which form an important part in learning. Social constructivism, as championed by Vygotsky (as cited in Kearns, 2010) involves collaborative learning in the classroom setting, where peer interactions and discussions are guided by teachers; this heavily relies on peer involvement and interactions. For the child with PTSD these tasks would be extremely difficult as their lack of concentration, outbursts and inability to focus would greatly impede their learning ability. Their inability to complete age appropriate tasks could delay their cognitive development as they would struggle to comprehend and retain information at the rate normally delivered in a primary school setting (QGDETA, n.d.). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (as cited in Kearns, 2010) advises us that all aspects of a child’s life can affect their ability to cope with stress and anxiety. If something like, war or other trauma related incidents occur in a child’s life that are out of the control of the child or family, these incidents can have a noticeable effect the child’s ability to learn and can impact their development. It may be that a child’s parent or family member is abusing them, this will undoubtedly affect their learning as the stress and anxiety that this causes is extreme. Children who have been impacted with PTSD will react differently to their school settings, however inevitably the anxiety that the child feels will greatly impact on their learning and development as their inability to complete simple tasks, mix with their peers and concentrate for prolonged periods of time will only worsen and compound the problems. Students experiencing PTSD may have difficulty concentrating on work, as they are focused on the traumatic event thus preventing them for taking in and retaining important information. They could be frequently distracted by memories that are triggered by incidents that are out of context or could be misinterpreted by the student resulting in a flashback or trigger an outburst (Centreforemotionalhealth.com.au., 2015). Reminders may come from any of the senses, and may seem harmless and innocent to others, like certain smells, noises or even touch. Emotional reactions and outbursts may take the form of fear, anger or regression, these can occur without any triggers. In these incidents it would be hard for other students to comprehend or understand resulting in the child having little or no friends. As most classrooms use social constructivism and collaboration strategies in their daily teachings (Bolstad et al., 2012) a child with PTSD would find it very hard to fit in and avail themselves of these learning structures. 3. Conclusion/Recommendations It is imperative to look into the backgrounds of children who may present with behaviours that are undesirable or challenging as this report clearly demonstrates that anxiety can manifest in many forms. Taking a whole school approach, include families and the wider community is essential to ascertain the possible reasons for certain behaviour, prior to making a judgement based purely on the child’s behaviour. Anxiety can take many forms and can either be inherent or be caused by fear, chronic shyness or exposure to abuse or trauma. This is a highly sensitive area and one that needs specialist care. The signs and symptoms can often reflect and mimic other conditions and or behavioural disorders. Inclusive policies and practices must be adhered to at all times. Schools need be able to; provide high-quality education for all students view difference as a resource to support learning ensure that all school community members feel safe and free from promote locally negotiated responses to student, family and community needs through effective community engagement processes and cross-agency collaboration Recommendations; Identifying high risk activities and times, develop strategies; handover or Work with the parents/carers/clinician Recognise small achievements Scaffold, set limits for work Explicit teaching of stress management skills; relaxation and problem solving skills (Kids Matter, 2015).
...e stage of life where socializing with her peers are very important. She wants friends and often feels lonely. Amanda will learn alternative ways to communicate and express her feelings with the support of his family and teachers. Separation anxiety is the onset of school phobia. With treatment, Amanda will grow out separation anxiety and school phobia once she reaches adolescence.
From birth to about six months old, an infant doesnÂ’t seem to mind staying with an unfamiliar person (Brazelton, 1992), although the infant is able to distinguish his mother from other people (Slater, et al, 1998). As the infant gets a little older, at about eight to ten months, he/she begins to cry when his caregiver is not his mother or father; and again between eighteen and twenty-four months, when the infant finds out he/she has some control over what happens (Schuster, 1980). Separation anxiety could, and often does, make parents feel guilty for leaving their child and might make them wonder if they are causing their child undue stress.
First, if a child is taken out of school, people tend to think the child’s socialization discontinues. As parents, they need to
An infant’s initial contact with the world and their exploration of life is directly through the parent/ primary caregiver. As the child grows, learns, and develops, a certain attachment relationship forms between them and the principle adult present in this process. Moreover, this attachment holds huge implications concerning the child’s future relationships and social successes. Children trust that their parental figure will be there; as a result, children whom form proper attachments internalize an image of their world as stable, safe, and secure. These children will grow independent while at the same time maintaining a connection with their caregivers. (Day, 2006). However, when a child f...
In many ways, attitudes about babies and separation are cultural. In some other cultures, babies in Cameron age are rarely separate from their mothers. In addition, I believe that the mother may suffering separation anxiety. Parents worry when they leave their babies in daycare especially for first time. “They worry if the caregiver will really know how to care for their children. They feel loss because this may be the first time their children are away this long time. They may also feel loss because they work full time and cannot be to help their children adjust in person. They may feel guilty if they have to leave a crying child and go off to
Attachments are formed with parents; this contributes to give a sense of who we are and who we will become in later life. However where these attachments are broken the child needs to have a secure attachment established with an alternative adult care giver,...
As a mother to three children under the age of 11 that have all went through severe separation anxiety, I picked the Attachment Theory. This theory was founded by John Bowlby and was proven with more empirical evidence by Mary Ainsworth. According to the article, “In 1969, Bowlby introduces the word “attachment,” which had never appeared before in his writing” (Pallini and Barcaccia, 2014). The attachment theory found that children are biologically imprinted to develop attachments to caregivers because of genetics. The attachment theory examines the long-term and short-term social relationships that people develop. Bowlby conducted a study with infants and mother’s interactions. Bowlby found that infants have built in mechanisms to make the parent want to attach to them. A few examples are; crying, cooing, smiling, and making sound. In Bowlby study he found that there were for parts to attachment. The first happens
It has been proposed that infant attachment styles do not change after the first year of life, the following essay will argue against this prompt in that ones attachment style will change continuously throughout life. Attachment theory is based on the joint work of Bowlby and Ainsworth (Bretherton, 1992). In recent years the idea of ‘attachment’ has become and increasingly popular debate within developmental psychology (Bretherton, 1992). Attachment theory provides an explanation on how parent and child relationships are formed and the important role they play in child development. However majority of the research into attachment has focused on identifying the stability of attachment rather then identifying the possible insatiability of
The reason children feel this way when their parents leave is because they are in what Piaget calls the sensorimotor stage, and are in the beginning of object permanence meaning that an infant realizes something is their even though they cannot see it. This is very important because, before an infant can experience object permanence often refereed to as separation anxiety, they only think about what is in their view at the time, therefore they think about the present rather than the future. The infant feels like the parent left them with a stranger, and they are not coming back.
Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)
Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in this paper.
“Attachment is as essential for the child’s psychological well-being as food is for physical health,” claimed Bowlby, B (2001, p.54). Bowlby claimed in this statement that attachment is a necessary thing that a child needs in order to develop healthily. There is evidence from other theorists who support Bowlby’s theory of attachment, such as Harlow, whose approach is based upon a caregiver’s sensitivity and attachment. Ainsworth is another theorist whose research supports Bowlby’s theory of attachment. In her strange situation study, she tested for the attachment types and what effects they had on a child’s behaviour.
In secure attachment, infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment. Secure attachment is theorized to be an important foundation for psychological development later in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In insecure attachment, infants either avoid the caregiver or show considerable resistance or ambivalence toward the caregiver. Insecure attachment is theorized to be related to difficulties in relationships and problems in later development. Developmentalists have begun to explore the role of secure attachment and related concepts, such as connectedness to parents, in adolescent development. They believe the attachment to parents in adolescence may facilitate the adolescent’s social competence and well-being, as reflected in such characteristics as self- esteem, emotional adjustment, and physical health (Allen & Kuperminc ; Armden & Greenberg; Black & McCartney; Blain, Thompson,
Learning Theories Knowledgebase . (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2010, from Learning Theories Knowledgebase : http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html
During the first few stages of both theories, we see challenges in the development of the child and we also see challenges that a child might face during some, if not all forms of attachment theory. For example, a parent ignoring the child and speaking to them in a negative manner during insecure-avoidant attachment can be challenging for a child and lead to insecurities and the feeling of not being loved and/or wanted. Additionally, the theme of independence is seen throughout both theories and can also be related specifically to insecure-avoidant attachment where the child does not focus his or her attention on the parents but instead looks to the outside world for assistance. Both theories, as well as attachment theory, has an impact on childhood