Speech and language deficits in separation anxiety disorder

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most commonly occurring pediatric anxiety disorders. Children with SAD are characterized by excessive anxiety of separation from the primary attachment figure. These children exhibit fear of separation from their parents and display behaviors such as clinging, excessive crying, and tantrums. Children with SAD are found to have significant brain changes. SAD can co-occur with other conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Past studies have identified not only cognitive deficits in children diagnosed with SAD, but also speech and language deficits, which vary depending on comorbidities. A team-centered approach is essential in the assessment and treatment of children diagnosed with SAD. Citation: Thomas RM, Kaipa R (2016) Speech and language deficits in separation anxiety disorder. Adv Pediatr Res 3:7. doi:10.12715/apr.2016.3.7 Received: December 21, 2015; Accepted: May 10, 2016; Published: June 1, 2016 Copyright: © 2016 Thomas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * Email: [email protected] During early childhood, children can become distressed upon separation from their primary attachment figure. However, this distress gradually reduces and children explore their surroundings on their own [1]. Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) in children is characterized by excessive anxiety of separation from the primary attachment figure [2]. Children with SAD exhibit fear of separation and display behaviors such as clinging to parents, tantrums and excessive crying on separation from the primary caregiver [3]. The diagnosis of SAD is appropriate only if the child’s distress during separation exceeds developmental norms and persists over a long period of time, affecting daily functioning [2]. SAD is considered to be one of the most common anxiety disorders in children [2]. About 4–5% of children in the USA are affected by SAD [1], which, if untreated, carries a high chance of continuing into adulthood [4]. SAD in children can manifest in adults as panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorders, and other psychiatric disorders [5]. Although the etiology of SAD remains unknown, both environmental and biological factors play a significant role [6]. Children diagnosed with SAD experience pathophysiological changes in the brain because of excessive stress and anxiety [7]. The negative impact of chronic stress on the brain areas involved in learning and emotional responses is well known [8]. Under stressful conditions, the hormonal changes may heighten the functioning of the amygdala, in turn suppressing the activities of the cognitive centers in the prefrontal cortex [9]. This imbalance can be likely attributed to the communication deficits seen in children with SAD. The hippocampus-based neural system is also severely affected in children with SAD [10]. Imbalance of neural chemicals and variation in the volume of neural structures are also commonly reported in children with SAD [11].