Separation anxiety in a community sample of Italian emerging adults and its relationship with dimensions of borderline personality

Abstract

Research studies focusing on separation anxiety and its relation with other measures of anxiety and personality-relevant variables in community samples are still scarce. This study aimed to describe in a dimensional perspective the relationship between separation anxiety symptoms, anxiety levels, and personality traits in a community sample of Italian emerging adults. A sample of 260 college students [mean age (Mage)=21.22, standard deviation (SD)=1.91, 79.6% females) completed the adult separation anxiety questionnaire-27 (ASA-27), the state and trait anxiety inventory-Y (STAI-Y), and the personality assessment inventory borderline scale (PAI-BOR). ASA-27 was significantly and positively correlated with the PAI borderline scale. The mediation model showed that ASA-27 influenced the PAI-BOR through trait anxiety. Clinical implications of the study for psychotherapy research are discussed.

Keywords

• Emerging adulthood
• adult separation anxiety
• trait anxiety
• state anxiety
• borderline features.