This short quiz measures the severity of separation anxiety using the SMSP, a clinically validated screening scale. Your answers stay private. At the end you'll see a severity score (0-5) and what it means.
About this quiz
Separation Anxiety Severity Quiz
This 2-minute test uses a clinically validated severity scale to score how much separation anxiety affects your daily life. You'll see a 0-5 rating and what each band means. Bia uses this score to personalize your recovery program.
About the scoreWhat your separation anxiety score means
SMSP severity bands (0 to 5)
- 0 – 1Minimal: your phobia rarely affects daily decisions or quality of life.
- 2Mild: noticeable in specific situations but not yet shaping major decisions.
- 3Moderate: actively limiting choices around work, travel, eating, social life, or sleep. Most Bia users start here.
- 4Significant: meaningfully disabling. Structured daily exposure work is the evidence-based path forward.
- 5Severe: dominating daily decisions. Bia's structured program is effective at this severity; therapist-supported use is recommended.
Common questions about separation anxiety
Is this normal for a young child?
Some separation distress is normal up to age 4 or 5. Persistent or intense separation anxiety past that, or new-onset separation anxiety in older kids, is clinically meaningful.
Won't long goodbyes help my child feel safe?
Counterintuitively, the opposite. Long, dramatic goodbyes train the brain that separation is dangerous. Brief, calm, predictable goodbyes work better. Bia teaches the script.
What if my child has both separation anxiety and school phobia?
Common. Bia handles both: the separation work is the foundation, the school work builds on top.
Separation anxiety is distress when separated from a primary caregiver: refusing to sleep alone, refusing school drop-off, refusing playdates, refusing the babysitter. Some level is developmentally normal in young children; clinical separation anxiety is intense enough to disrupt school, sleep, or family functioning, often with somatic complaints and fears that harm will come to the caregiver. The clinical fix is graduated separation exposure with predictable, brief, non-dramatic goodbyes, building tolerance to short separations before longer ones. Bia structures the ladder, coaches the parent through the don't-rescue moments, and tracks progress nightly.
Common signs of separation anxiety
- Distress at separation: crying, clinging, somatic complaints
- Refusal to sleep alone, in own bed, or at sleepovers
- School refusal driven by separation
- Frequent calls or check-ins when separated
- Fear of harm coming to the caregiver
- Nightmares about separation
Our clinical approach: graduated separation exposure with caregiver coaching