Factors that contribute to the disorder include a combination and interaction of biological, cognitive, environmental, child temperament, and behavioral factors. Children are more likely to develop SAD if one or both of their parents was diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Recent research by Daniel Schechter and colleagues have pointed to difficulties of mothers who have themselves had early adverse experiences such as maltreatment and disturbed attachments with their own caregivers, who then go on to develop responses to their infants' and toddlers' normative social bids in the service of social referencing, emotion regulation, and joint attention, which responses are linked to these mothers own psychopathology (i.e. maternal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.) These atypical maternal responses which have been shown to be associated with<unk>  anxiety have been related to disturbances in maternal stress physiologic response to mother-toddler<unk>  as well as lower maternal neural activity in the brain region of the medial prefrontal cortex when mothers with and without PTSD were shown video excerpts of their own and unfamiliar toddlers during mother-child<unk>  versus free-play. Many psychological professionals have suggested that early or traumatic<unk>  from a central caregiver in a child's life can increase the likelihood of them being diagnosed with SAD, school phobia, and depressive-spectrum disorders. Some children can be more vulnerable to SAD due to their temperament, for example, their level of anxiety when placed in new situations. Environmental Most often, the onset of<unk>  is caused by a stressful life-event, especially a loss of a loved one or pet, but can also include parental divorce, change of school or neighbourhood, natural disasters, or circumstances which forced the individual to be separated from their attachment figure(s). In older individuals, stressful life experiences may include going away to college, moving out for the first time, or becoming a parent. According to the DSM-5 young adults with<unk>  have different examples of stress, including leaving their parents home, entering a romantic relationship, and becoming a parent. In some cases parental overprotectiveness may be associated with<unk> . Genetic and physiological There may be a genetic predisposition in children with<unk> .<unk>  in children may be heritable." "Heritability was estimated at 73% in a community sample of 6-year-old twins, with higher rates in girls." A child's temperament can also impact the development of SAD. Timid and shy behaviors may be referred to as "behaviorally inhibited temperaments" in which the child may experience anxiety when they are not familiar with a particular location or person.
Separation anxiety disorder
Hodophobia
Social anxiety disorder
Agoraphobia
Generalized anxiety disorder
Somatization disorder
Blood phobia
Body dysmorphic disorder