Separation anxiety among muslim children :a comparative case study between Ahlami and Edu-care

Abstract

The attachment styles of parenting have consistently been found to be a major risk factor for child development. Many children especially in early childhood refuse to go to school or to discover their surrounding in order to be with their caregivers. Therefore, the aims of the study were to find out the types of attachment patterns and types of separation anxiety patterns. This study also tried to find out the different attachment styles across ethnicity and types of separation anxiety symptoms. Qualitative methods were used in the present study which has two phases, first semistructured interview and second observational method. Both methods were adapted and adopted from the DSM-IV and Anisworth attachment patterns (1978). The result revealed that the attachment patterns that prevalent among the parents were secured patterns according to some traits find as which are made this pattern different from other patterns. Moreover, the result indicated that the separation anxiety patterns present among the children were secure and insecure Avoidant patterns. Attachment across ethnicity was found to be different among participants from Qatar and Malaysia; the Qatari encouraged independence while the Malays preferred routine. Regarding separation symptoms among children, the results show that only behavioral symptoms existed among the children, such as crying, fear of darkness, and wet their clothes. Also, the research discusses on attachment theory and characteristic of attachment theory from the Islamic perspective in growing up children.