Linking Parenting Styles to Separation Anxiety Disorder and Neurological Responses

Today, nearly 20% of the US experience an anxiety disorder, one of the most prevalent in children being Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD).SAD is defined as a child's fear of being separated from a central attachment figure and therefore refusal to do so.This literature review focused on the correlation between three of the four parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and SAD.The results of this review found that SAD is most commonly associated with the authoritarian parenting style which is defined as the parent inciting high demand but low support for this child.This review also found that separation anxiety is closely correlated with the amygdala, including responsiveness and size.In addition, authoritarian parenting has been found to be linked to slower neurological responsiveness to a child's success by the parent.