Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27) Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- This happens very often (almost constantly)
- This happens quite often
- This happens sometimes
- This never happens
- This happens very often (almost constantly)
- This happens fairly often
- This happens sometimes
- This has never happened
- This happens very often (constantly)
- This happens fairly often
- This happens sometimes
- This has never happened
Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27) Test - Description and methodology of the test
People who feel unusually distressed before leaving home, worry intensely about loved ones, or rely on constant contact may use this assessment to organize experiences that are otherwise hard to describe. The Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27) Test is intended for adults seeking a clearer picture of separation-related patterns. For adults exploring separation-related patterns, the assessment highlights how separation anxiety in adults may appear in everyday situations that merit personal reflection.
What This Assessment Explores
Rather than judging whether closeness is good or bad, the questionnaire examines how separation-related concerns affect relationships, routines, and comfort. It covers adult separation anxiety symptoms such as distress before travel, difficulty staying alone, physical sensations, fears about harm, and a strong need for contact. The result summarizes the reported frequency of these experiences and the overall severity indicated by the scale, including worries about excessive closeness or dependence.
The single Separation Anxiety scale ranges from 0-81. Its displayed bands are Low (0-18), Moderate (19-37), and High (38-81). The main themes represented in the items are:
- Leaving home or close others can trigger anxiety or bodily distress.
- Worries about loved ones can continue during absences or imagined danger.
- Solitude, disrupted routines, and reassurance-seeking can reveal difficulty tolerating distance.
Methodology and Evidence Base
Four options run from very often to never. Items cover leaving home, separation from loved ones, disrupted routines, contact, sleep, and bodily signs. Answer each item according to its wording: choose the frequency that best matches it; lifetime experiences belong in items asking whether something has ever happened, while recurring situations call for their usual frequency.
Responses form one total; higher scores indicate more severe separation-related symptoms. Interpret the displayed total and bands as presented; answer labels describe frequency, not a point value for an individual response.
Methodologically, this online ASA-27 questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the published Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27), a self-report instrument described by Manicavasagar, Silove, Wagner, and Drobny in 2003. The 2000 study examined continuity between childhood and adult separation anxiety; Finsaas and colleagues’ 2020 analysis examined item functioning and invariance in an adult separation-anxiety symptom questionnaire.
Neither study establishes that this online version has the same norms or validation results. Self-report can reflect current stress, memory, self-awareness, and presentation concerns, so use the result as structured reflection rather than diagnosis or explanation of cause.
- Manicavasagar, V., Silove, D., Wagner, R., & Drobny, J. (2003). A self-report questionnaire for measuring separation anxiety in adulthood. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 44(2), 146-153. 10.1053/comp.2003.50024
- Manicavasagar, V., Silove, D., Curtis, J., & Wagner, R. (2000). Continuities of separation anxiety from early life into adulthood. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 14(1), 1-18. 10.1016/S0887-6185(99)00029-8
- Finsaas, M. C., Olino, T. M., Hawes, M., Mackin, D. M., & Klein, D. N. (2020). Psychometric analysis of the adult separation anxiety symptom questionnaire: Item functioning and invariance across gender and time. Psychological Assessment, 32(6), 582-593. 10.1037/pas0000815
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