1. Loss results not only from the death of a parent7 but also from separation caused, for example, by marital breakdown, hospitalisation, and wartime evacuation.6 The term "early" has been used in the studies to cover the whole ofchildhood up to the age of 17. Studies have nearly always been retrospective, with possibly inaccurate data about early separations and the domestic circumstances at the time being recalled by the subjects. Adult subjects have been drawn from a wide age range (18 to over 50) of people from outpatient clinics and the general population and have shown varying degrees of;BMJ VOLUME; psychopathology over periods ranging from one month to the whole adult lifetime,1989
2. Attachment and loss. Vol 3;Bowlby, J.,1980
3. A secure base: clinical applications oJ attachment theory;Bowlby, J.,1988
4. Parental loss in childhood: its effects in adult life;Tennant, C.;Arch Gen Psvchiatry,1988
5. The social origins of depression: a study of psvchiatric disorders in women;Brown, G.W.; Harris, T.,1978