The baby's helplessness explains the special emotional relationship that he/she establishes with the people who love him and raise him. Baby reacts with anxiety, loses his/her appetite, and this alters his/her sleep when the parents are absent. When he/she is 2 years old, most continue to experience separation anxiety. But from this age, the discomfort when the parents are absent tends to decrease until the following years. Separation anxiety has an adaptive value because the baby needs constant care, but as the child acquires behavioral repertoires parents must reduce supervision in order to do not hamper the development of their child autonomy. The gradual process of withdrawing supervision and encouraging initiative and independence can be altered, so that separation anxiety is not extinguished, but becomes worse as a disorder affecting 4% of children, 1.6% of adolescents and 1.4% of adults. "Top-down" family studies, which evaluate children of parents with anxiety disorders, and "bottom-up” family studies, which evaluate parents and other direct relatives of children with anxiety disorders, reveal that anxiety is a family affair. It is estimated that around 83% of mothers of children with separation anxiety disorder have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at some point. In addition to emotional contagion, inappropriate educational practices, such as overprotection, contribute to the onset of the disorder. Therefore, prevention and treatment should focus on the family and not be limited to the child.

Professor at the University of Murcia. Specialist in Clinical Psychology. Tutor teacher at the Associate Centre in Elche, of the Spanish National University for Distance Education (UNED). Invited lecturer to various Spanish and international universities. Author and coordinator of numerous books on psychological treatment in children and adolescents, putting special emphasis on, Programa FORTIUS: Fortaleza psicológica y prevención de las dificultades emocionales (FORTIUS Programme: Psychological strength and prevention of emotional difficulties) (Pirámide, 2013), Miedos y temores en la infancia (Scares and fears in children) (Pirámide, 2012), Manual del psicólogo de familia (Family psychologist manual) (Pirámide, 2012), Terapia psicológica (Psychological therapy) (Pirámide, 2012), El niño que no sonríe (The child that does not smile) (Pirámide, 2011), El niño miedoso (The scared child) (Pirámide, 2011), Terapia psicológica con niños y adolescents (Psychological therapy with children and adolescents) (Pirámide, 2011), Depresión infantil y adolescente (Depression in children and adolescents) (Klinik, 2011), Cómo dar alas a los hijos para que vuelen solos (How to give our children wings so they can fly by themselves) (Pirámide, 2010), ¿Depresión o felicidad? (Depression or happiness?) (Nova Galicia, 2010). Director of the collections “Ojos Solares” (Solar Eyes) and “Guías para Padres y Madres” (Guides for Mums and Dads). Currently, his research and clinical interest is centred on positive psychology and on the prevention and treatment of emotional problems in children and adolescents.