Data for: Parental Evaluations of Separation Anxiety Symptoms: The Role of Socialization Norms and Stigma in China and Germany

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD; the fear of being away from an attachment figure) is among the diagnoses with the earliest age-of-onset and poses a risk factor for child development and mental health well into adulthood. Lifetime prevalences vary largely across countries worldwide. Cultural differences may play a role in the detection and diagnosis of SAD. The threshold hypothesis suggests that cultural norms influence whether a specific child behavior is perceived as pathological or normal. This online experiment aimed to investigate the parental perception of SAD symptoms in Germany and China (i.e., culture). Parents from both cultures read vignettes describing children with SAD. One vignette focused on cognitive SAD symptoms, another vignette focused on somatic SAD symptoms (i.e., symptom type). Prior to reading the vignettes, half of the participants thought about themselves as members of their cultural group (social identity and norm salience) while the other half thought about themselves as individuals (personal value salience; i.e., salience).