Common Childhood Fears by PETER MURIS, HARALD MERCKELBACH and RON COLLARIS (1997) - an article

8/13/2019 Common Childhood Fears by PETER MURIS, HARALD MERCKELBACH and RON COLLARIS (1997) - an article

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ergamon Beh , r . Res . T h er . Vol. 35, No. 10, pp. 929-937, 19971997 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reservedPrinted in Grea t BritainPI I: S0005-7967( 97)00050- 8 0005-7967/97 $17.00 + 0.00

C O M M O N C H I L D H O O D F E A R S A N D T H E I R O R I G I N SP E T E R M U R I S , H A R A L D M E R C K E L B A C H a nd R O N C O L L A R I SDepartment of Psychology, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht,The Netherlands

R e c e i v e d 1 4 A p r i l 1 9 9 7 )Summary--The present study examined rank orders and characteristics of childhood fears. A 'freeoption approach ('Wh at do you fear most?') deviated markedly from the fear rank order based on theFear Survey Schedule for Children. A second aim of the study was to investigate the origins of preva-lent childhood fears. In contrast to the results of Ollendick and King (1991, B e h a v i o u r R e s e a r c h a n dT h e r a p y , 2 9 , 117-123), conditioning was found to be the most commonly reported pathway related toexacerbation and onset of fears. Finally, special a ttention was given to the top intense fear in children,namely fear of spiders. Children who report ed 'none ', ~some' or a lot' of spider fear were comparedwith each oth er in terms of pathways. No differences between the three groups were found with respectto the frequency of modeling and information experiences. However, high fearful children more oftenrepor ted condit ioning experiences than low or moderate fearful children. ~ 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

I N T R O D U C T I O NSt udi e s on c h i l dhood fe a rs ha ve p re dom i na n t l y r e li e d on surve ys t ha t l is t a b roa d ra nge o f po-tent ia l ly fear-p rov ok ing s t imul i. A wide ly used ins t rum ent for thi s pu rpo se i s the revised vers ionof t he Fe a r Surve y Sc he dul e fo r C hi ld re n (FSSC -R ; Ol l e nd ic k , 1983) . The FS SC -R a sks c h i ld re nto indica te on three-point sca les ( 'none ' , ' some ' , ' a lot ' ) how much they fear spec i f ic s t imul i ors i tua t i ons . S t ud i e s e mpl oy i ng t he FS SC -R c ons i s t e n t ly foun d t ha t p re va l e n t f e a rs o f c h il d ren a renear ly a lways re la ted to dangerous s i tua t ions and physica l harm. More spec i f ica l ly , FSSC-R s tu-d i e s r e por t e d t he fo l l owi ng ra nk orde r fo r c ommon c h i l dhood fe a r s : (1 ) no t be i ng a b l e t obrea the ; (2) be ing hi t by a car or t ruck; (3) bombing a t tacks ; (4) ge t t ing burned by f i re ; (5) fa l l -ing f rom a high place ; (6) burgla r breaking into the house ; (7) ear thquake; (8) dea th; (9) i l lness ;and (10) snake s (e .g . Ol lendick, K ing & F rary , 1989 ; Ol lendick, Yu le & Oll ie r , 199 1; Ol lendick& King, 1994).

So fa r , on l y one s t udy ha s d i re ct ly e xa mi ne d t he o r ig i ns o f c om mo n c h i l dhood fe a rs(Ol l end i c k & Ki ng , 1991) . Tha t s t udy e va l ua t e d t o wha t e x t en t R a c hm a n ' s (R a c h ma n , 1977 ,1991) t he ory o f f e a r a c qu i s it i on c a n be a pp l i e d t o t he t e n mos t c o mm on FS SC -R fe a r s . C hi ld re nwh o re po r t e d ' a l o t ' o f f e a r to F SSC -R i t e ms suc h a s ' no t be i ng a b l e to b re a t he ' , ' be i ng h it by acar or t ruck ' , and so for th, were given a shor t ques t ionnai re which asked them to indica te : (1)whether they remembered having a bad or f r ightening exper ience wi th thi s i t em ( i .e . condi t ion-ing) ; (2) whether the i r parents , f r i ends , or other acquaintances reac ted wi th a fear response tothi s i t em ( i .e . model ing) ; and/or (3) whether they had heard f r ightening things about thi s i t emfrom the i r parents , t eachers , f r i ends , t e levi s ion, and so on ( i . e . nega t ive informat ion) . Ol lendicka nd Ki ng (1991) fou nd t ha t t he ma j or i t y o f c h il d ren a t t r i bu t e d t he ir f e a r t o ne ga ti ve in form a t i on( i.e. 88.8 of the chi ldren repor ted such exper iences). M ode l ing and cond i t ioning events wereless of ten me nt ion ed b y the chi ldren ( i. e. 56.2 and 3 5.7 , respec t ive ly) .

An i mpo r t a n t l i mi ta t ion o f t he Ol l e nd ic k a nd Ki ng (1991) s t udy i s t ha t i t on l y a ske d c h i l d re nwhe t he r t he y ha d e xpe r i e nc e d i n forma t i on , mode l i ng , a nd / or c ondi t i on i ng e ve n t s i n c onne c t i onwi th the feared s t imulus or s i tua t ion. Chi ldren were not expl ic i t ly asked to what extent such ex-pe r ie nc e s a c t ua ll y ha d c on t r i bu t e d t o t he onse t a nd / or s e ve r it y o f t he f ea r . Thus , Ol l e nd i c k a ndKi ng e m pl oye d a b roa d de f in i ti on o f e t io l og i c al pa t hwa y s , a nd t h is m a y ha ve y i e l de d i na c c ura t ees t imates of the role tha t these pa thways play in the or igins of fears (see , for a s imi la r c r i t ique ,Men zies & Clarke , 1994; M enzies , 1996).

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93 Peter Muris e t a l

Another critical point has to do with the instrument that Ollendick and King (1991) used togenerate a fear rank order, namely the FSSC-R. Some authors have questioned the validity ofthis instrument. For example, McCathie and Spence (1991) suggested that a number of FSSC-Ritems (e.g. not being able to breathe, bombing attacks, getting burned by fire) do not measureactual fear, but rather reflect children s negative affective response to t he t hought o f oc c urre nc eof such specific events. Therefore, it may well be the case that FSSC-R fear rank orders includeitems to which children have a negative attitude. In line with this, an exploratory study byMuris, Merckelbach, Meesters and Van Lier (1997) indicated that children s fear rank orderscritically depend on the survey method tha t researchers use. In that study, fear rank orders wereobtained along two different ways. One fear rank order was based on children s FSSC-R scores,whereas the other fear rank order was derived from what children reported as their most fearedobject (i.e. free option method). Both methods yielded quite different fear rank orders. That is,stimuli that figured high in one fear rank order, ranked relatively low in the other fear rankorder. However, the Muris et al. (1997) study had one potent ial weakness: the question Whatdo you fear most? (i.e. free option method) was always asked after the children had completedthe FSSC-R. It may well be the case that children s responses to the open question were affectedby this sequence. For example, some children may have interpreted the open quest ion as an invi-tation to come up with new items not covered by the FSSC-R.

The current study further examined fear rank orders in children. As in the Muris et al. (1997)study, fear rank orders were obtained in two manners: (1) by administering the FSSC-R; and(2) by asking children What do you fear most? . To avoid systematic carry-over effects, a coun-ter-balanced procedure was followed: half of the children first completed the FSSC-R and thenreceived the open question, whereas the other ha lf had the reverse order (i.e. first free option,then FSSC-R).

A second purpose of the present study was to assess to what extent modeling, negative infor-mation, and conditioning contribute to the development of common childhood fears. Accordingto the non-associative model proposed by Menzies and Clarke (1995), these pathways are notrequired for most cases of fear acquisition. By this view, most childhood fears arise in theabsence of negative experiences that are associated with the object of fear. Menzies and Clarke(1994), Menzies and Clarke (1995) and Menzies (1996) argue that previous research on fear ac-quisition has tended to classify any negative experience as a modeling, informational, and/or aconditioning event. This would have resulted in a significant overestimation of the three path-ways of fear and an underestimation of non-associative (i.e. spontaneous) scenarios of fear ac-quisition. Therefore, in the present study, children were not only asked whether they had everhad modeling, information, and/or condit ioning experiences in connection with their fear, butalso to what extent such experiences had intensified their fear or had play a role in the actualonset of their fear. Particular attention was given to fear of spiders, which was found to be thetop intense fear of children in our previous study (Muris et al . 1997). Furthermore, in order toexamine whether certain characteristics and/or etiological pathways were unique for spider fear,high fearful children were compared with low and moderate fearful children.

METHODSubje c t s

The sample consisted of 129 children (74 boys; 55 girls) with ages ranging between 9 and13 yr (M = 10.5, S D = 1.0). The children attended two regular schools in Echt, Middle-Limburg, the Netherlands.A s s e s s m e n t

F e ar Surv e y Sc he du le f or Chi ldre n- - R e v i se d . The FSSC-R (Ollendick, 1983; ~ = 0.96) is an80-item self-report questionnaire. Children are asked to indicate their level of fear to variousstimuli and s ituations on a three-point scale: none ; some ; or a lot . These are scored 1, 2, and3, respectively, and then summed over the 80 items to yield a total fear score varying between80 and 240. Factor analysis of the FSSC-R has revealed five factors: fear of failure and criti-


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C o m m o n c h i l d h o o d f e a rsT a b l e 1 . F S S C - R b a s e d f e a r r a n k o r d e r s

9 3 1

F e a r N u m b e r o f S s r a t i n g 3 : a l ot P e r c e n t a g e o f s a m p l eT o t a l s a m p l e ( N = 1 29 )1 . N o t b e i n g a b l e t o b r e a t h e 8 8 6 8 . 22 . Ge t t i ng a s e r ious i l lnes s 75 58 .13 . B o m b i n g a t t a c k s / b e i n g i n v a d e d 7 4 5 7 . 3

4 . B e i n g h i t b y a c a r o r t r u c k 7 0 5 4 . 25 , F i r e / g e t t i n g b u r n e d 5 8 4 5 . 06 . B u r g l a r b r e a k i n g i n t o h o u s e 5 3 4 1. 17 . G e t t i n g l o s t i n a s t r a n g e p l a c e 5 2 4 0 . 38 . F a l l i n g f r o m a h i g h p l a c e 4 3 3 3 . 39 . D e a t h / d e a d p e o p l e 4 2 3 2 . 610 . Sp ide rs 41 31 ,8Boys (n = 74 )I . N o t b e i n g a b l e t o b r e a t h e 4 7 6 3 . 52 . B o m b i n g a t t a c k s / b e i n g i n v a d e d 4 2 5 6 . 83 . Ge t t i ng a s e r ious i l lnes s 40 54 .14 . B e i n g h i t b y a c a r o r t r u c k 3 4 4 5 . 95 . F i r e / g e t t i n g b u r n e d 2 6 3 5. 16 . B u r g l a r b r e a k i n g i n t o h o u s e 2 4 3 2 . 47 . G e t t i n g l o s t i n a s t r a n g e p l a c e 2 3 3 1 . tF a l l i n g f r o m a h i g h p l a c e 2 3 3 1. 19 . D e a t h / d e a d p e o p l e 1 9 2 5 . 710 . Sna kes 16 21 .6Gi r l s (n = 55 )1 . N o t b e i n g a b l e t o b r e a t h e 4 1 7 4 . 52 . B e i n g h i t b y a c a r o r t r u c k 3 6 6 5 . 53 . Ge t t i ng a s e r ious i l lnes s 35 63 .64 . B o m b i n g a t t a c k s / b e i n g i n v a d e d 3 2 5 8 . 2F i r e / g e t t i n g b u r n e d 3 2 5 8 . 26 . B u r g l a r b r e a k i n g i n t o h o u s e 2 9 5 2 . 7G e t t i n g l o s t i n a s t r a n g e p l a c e 2 9 5 2 . 78 . Sp iders 27 49 .19 . D e a t h / d e a d p e o p l e 2 2 4 0 . 01 0. F a l l i n g f r o m a h i g h p l a c e 2 0 3 6 , 4

c i s m , f e a r o f th e u n k n o w n , f e a r o f s m a ll a n i m a l s , f e a r o f d a n g e r , a n d m e d i c a l f e a r s . S t u d ie sh a v e d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h i s f a c t o r s t r u c t u r e c a n b e g e n e r a l i z e d a c r o s s c h i l d r e n a n d a d o l e s c e n t si n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ( O l l e n d i c k , 1 9 8 3 ) , A u s t r a l i a ( O l l e n d i c k e t a l . , 1 9 8 9 ) , E n g l a n d ( O l l e n d i c k e ta l . , 1 9 91 ), a n d T h e N e t h e r l a n d s ( O o s t e r l a a n , P r i n s , H a r t m a n S e r g e a n t , 1 99 5) .

F e a r i n t e r v i e w . T h i s i n t e r v ie w l a s t e d f o r a b o u t 2 0 m i n a n d c o n s i s t e d o f t w o p a r t s . T h e f i rs tp a r t b e g a n w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n ' W h a t d o y o u f e a r m o s t ? ' . F o l l o w i n g t h i s , c h i l d r e n w e r e i n v i t e d t od e s c r i b e s e v e r a l c h a r a c t e r is t i c s o f t h e i r t o p i n t e n se f e a r . M o r e s p e c if i ca l ly , t h e y w e r e a s k e d t op r o v i d e d e t a i l s a b o u t t h e i n t e n s i t y ( ' H o w m u c h d o y o u f e a r . . . ? ' ; 1 = n o t a t a l l ; 10 = v e r y m u c h ,l e ve l o f i n t e r f e r e n c e ( ' H o w m u c h d o e s y o u r f e a r o f . . . d i s r u p t y o u r d a i l y a c ti v it ie s ? '; 1 = n o t a ta l l ; 10 = v e r y m u c h , f r e q u e n c y o f w o r r y ( ' H o w m u c h d o y o u w o r r y a b o u t .. . ? '; 1 = n o t a t a l l ;10 = v e r y m u c h , a n d r e a c t i o n s t o t h e f e a r e d s t i m u l u s ( ' H o w d o y o u r e a c t w h e n y o u a r e c o n -f r o n t e d w i t h . . . ? ' ; w i t h p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s , n e g a t i v e t h o u g h t s , a n d a v o i d a n c e b e h a v i o u r r a t e d i nt e r m s o f 0 = a b s e n t a n d 1 = p r e s e n t . F u r t h e r m o r e , c h i l d r e n w e r e i n t e r v i e w e d a b o u t t h e d i f f e r -e n t p a t h w a y s o f f e ar a c q u is i ti o n w i t h s e p a r a te q u e s t i o n s a b o u t m o d e l i n g ( ' D o y o u k n o w p e o p l ew h o a r e a l s o a f r a i d o f . . . ? ' , ' D i d t h i s c a u s e y o u t o b e m o r e f e a r f u l ? ' ) , n e g a t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n ( ' D i dy o u h e a r f r i g h t e n i n g t h i n g s a b o u t . . . ? ' , ' D i d t h i s c a u s e y o u t o b e m o r e f e a r f u l ? ' ) , a n d c o n d i t i o n -i n g e v e n t s ( 'D i d y o u h a v e a b a d o r f r i g h t e n i n g e x p e r i e n c e w i t h .. .? ' , ' D i d t h is c a u s e y o u t o b em o r e f e a r f u l ? ') . I n a d d i t i o n , c h i l d r e n w e r e e x p li c it l y a s k e d t o w h a t e x t e n t t h e s e p a t h w a y s w e r er e l a t e d t o t h e o n s e t o f t h e i r f e a r ( ' H o w d i d y o u r f e a r o f . . .b e g i n ? ' ; m o d e l i n g , n e g a t i v e i n f o r -m a t i o n , c o n d i t i o n i n g e x p e r i e n c e , ' I d o n ' t k n o w ' ) . T h e y a l s o g a v e a n e s t i m a t e o f t h e a g e o f o n s e t( ' A t w h a t a g e d i d y o u r f e a r o f . . . s t a r t ? ' ) .

T h e s e c o n d p a r t o f t h e i n t e rv i e w w a s c o n c e r n e d w i t h f e a r o f s p id e r s . A ll q u e s t i o n s o f t h e f ir s tp a r t ( e x c e p t f o r t h e ' o n s e t ' a n d ' a g e o f o n s e t ' q u e s t io n s ) w e r e r e p e a t e d i n o r d e r t o g e t a m o r ep r e c i se p i c t u r e o f t h e c h a r a c t e r i s ti c s a n d o r i g in s o f s p i d e r f e a r .P r o c e d u r e

Ch i l d r e n w e r e a s s i g n e d t o t w o g r o u p s . G r o u p 1 ( n = 6 6 ; 3 7 b o y s a n d 2 9 gi r ls ) w a s f i r st i n t e r -v i e w e d a n d t h e n c o m p l e t e d t h e F S S C - R , w h i l e g r o u p 2 ( n = 6 3 ; 3 7 b o y s a n d 2 6 g i r l s ) f o l l o w e dt h e r e v e r s e o r d e r . B o t h g r o u p s w e r e m a t c h e d w i t h r e s p e ct t o ag e .


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9 3 2 P e t e r M u r i s e t a lT a b l e 2 . F e a r r a n k o r d e r s b a s ed o n f r e e o p t i o n

F e a r N u m b e r o f S s P e r c e n t a g e o f s a m p l e N u m b e r i n F S S C - R r a n k o r d e rT o t a l s a m p l e ( N = 1 2 9)I . Sp iders 24 18 .6 102 . B e i n g k i d n a p p e d 1 0 7 . 83 . Pre da to rs 8 6 .2 2 I

T h e d a r k 8 6 . 2 1 55 . F r i g h t e n i n g m o v i e s 7 5 . 4 2 36 . Sna kes 6 4 .7 I I7 . B e i n g h i t b y a c a r o r t r u c k 5 3 . 9 4Being t eased 5 3 .9 28P a r e n t s d y i n g 5 3 . 91 0. B u r g l a r b r e a k i n g i n t o h o u s e 4 3 . t 6Boys (n = 74 )1. Spi ders 12 16.2 122 . P r e d a t o r s 7 9 . 5 2 63 . B e i n g h i t b y a c a r o r t r u c k 5 6 . 8 4Sna kes 5 6 .8 105 . B u r g l a r b r e a k i n g i n t o h o u s e 4 5 . 4 6F r i g h t e n i n g m o v i e s 4 5 . 4 2 6T h e d a r k 4 5 . 4 1 48 . Be ing t eased 3 4 .1 3 lF r i g h t e n i n g d r e a m s 3 4 . I 1 8

O p e r a t i o n s 3 4 .1 1 4Gir ls (17 = 55)1 . Sp iders 12 21 .8 82 . Be ing k id nap ped 8 14 .5 -3 . P a r e n t s d y i n g 4 7 . 3 -The dar k 4 7 .3 135 . F r i g h t e n i n g m o v i e s 3 5 . 5 2 0T h u n d e r s t o r m s 3 5 . 5 4 07 . Be ing t eased 2 3 .6 27Bat s 2 3 .6 51G h o s t s a n d s p o o k y t h i n g s 2 3 . 6 3 2G o i n g t o b e d i n t h e d a r k 2 3 . 6 3 2M a k i n g m i s t a k e s 2 3 . 6 7 4

Children completed the FSSC-R in their classrooms, while the interview took place in a separ-ate room. Children were interviewed individually and the interviews were conducted by a trainedresearch assistant. Children were told that their responses would remain confidential.

RESULTSF e a r r a n k o r d e r s

The fear rank orders of children who first underwent the interview and then completed theFSSC-R were comparable to those of the children who had the reverse order: the correlationbetween the FSSC-R rank order of group 1 and that of group 2 was 0.97, P < 0.001, whereasthe correlation between the free option based rank orders of group 1 and 2 was 0.68,P < 0.001. Thus, both types of fear rank orders appear to be relatively insensitive to carry-overeffects. Therefore, the data of both groups were collapsed.Tables 1 and 2 present the top 10 fears as obtained by FSSC-R and free option method, re-spectively. It should be noted that the rank order derived from the FSSC-R (as determined bythe percentage of children who gave the maximum rating; e.g. Ollendick e t a l . 1989) was highlysimilar to that found in other studies employing this questionnaire (Ollendick e t a l . 1989;Ollendick e t a l . 1991; Ollendick King, 1994; Muris e t a l . 1997). The hierarchy obtained byasking the children what they feared most (see Table 2) included several items that also rankedhigh in the FSSC-R rank order (i.e. being hit by a car or truck, burglar breaking into house,and spiders). However, items such as being kidnapped, predators, frightening movies, and beingteased were more often reported when employing the free option method.

Clustering of prevalent fears that were reported with the free option method revealed thatfear of animals was most frequently mentioned (n = 49), followed by fear of the unknown(n = 29), fear of danger and death (n = 22), medical fears (n = 9), and fear of failure and criti-cism (n = 8). Interestingly, these fear clusters fit the five FSSC-R factors. However, inspectionof the mean scores on items of the separate FSSC-R factors revealed that children clearly scoredhighest on danger and death items (M = 2.1, S D = 0.4). Mean scores on items of the other fac-


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C o m m o n c h i l d h o o d f e ar s 9 3 3T a b l e 3 . P e r c e n t a g e s o f c h i l d r e n w h o r e p o r t e d m o d e l i n g , i n f o r m a t i o n , a n d c o n d i t i o n i n g e x p e r i e n c e s i n a ll f e a r s, t h e f iv e m o s t p r o m i n e n t

f e a r c l u s t e r s , a n d s p i d e r f e a rA l l f e a r s F e a r o f F e a r o f t h e F e a r o f M e d i c a l f e a r s F e a r o f F e a r o f

( N = 1 29 ) a n i m a l s u n k n o w n d a n g e r a n d ( N = 9 ) f a i l u r e a n d s p i d e r s( N = 4 9 ) ( N = 2 7 ) d e a t h c r i t ic i s m ( N = 2 4 )(N = 22 ) (N = 8 )E x p e r i e n c e sM ode l ing exper i enc es 49 .6 57 .1 60 .7 39 .1 44 .4 62 .5 87 .5In f o rm at io n exper i en ces 87 .8 98 ,0 75 .0 82 .6 100 .0 87 .5 100 .0C o nd it io n in g ex pe rie nc es 61 .---7 67. --33 42 .9 60.- '0 55 .6 75.--'-6 7018E x p e r i e n c e s i n t e n s i f y i n g f e a rD i d m o d e l i n g c a u s e m o r e f e a r ? 3 . 8 0 . 0 1 3. 0 4 . 3 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0Did in fo rm at io n cause mo re fear? 35 .1 38 .8 35 .7 47 .8 33 .3 12 .5 25 .0D id c o n d it io n in g ca u se m o r e fe ar ? 45._._88 53._._~1 33 .3 34 .8 44._..~4 50...._00 45.__.88O n s e t o f f e a rMo del ing 0 .8 0 .0 3 .6 0 .0 0 .0 0 .0 0 .0In f o rm at io n 26 .7 28 .6 32 .1 41 .0 I h I 0 .0 12 .5C o n d i t i o n i n g 3 9 . 7 4 4 . 9 2 5 . 0 3 1 . 8 4 4 . 4 5 0 . 0 4 1 . 7D on 't kn ow 32.-- ~ 26. ~ 39.3 27. 2 44, '4 50.- 'O 45- --8Note C o c h r a n ' s Q - t e s t s r e v e a l e d t h a t i n a l l c a s e s , c h i l d r e n ' s r e p o r t s w e r e n o t e v e n l y d i s t r i b u t e d o v e r t h e p a t h w a y o p t i o n s . T h e m o s t p r o -

m i n e n t p a t h w a y i s u n d e r l i n e d .

tor s were 1.5 (SD = 0.3) for animals , 1 .5 (SD = 0.5) for medica l i tems, 1 .5 (SD = 0.4) for theu n k n o w n , a n d 1 .4 (SD = 0 .3 ) f o r f a i l u r e a nd c r i t i c i sm . T hus , a ga in , t he f e a r r a nk o r de r a s de -r iv e d f r o m t h e F S S C - R a p p e a r e d t o b e q u i te d i f fe r e n t f r o m t h a t o b t a i n e d b y t h e fr e e o p t i o nm e t h o d .Characteristics of common fears

T h e m e a n i n t e n s i t y o f c h i ld r e n ' s t o p i n t e n s e f ea r w a s 6 . 5 (SD = 2.0) . Percen tages o f the chi l -d r e n w h o r e p o r t e d p h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s , n e g a t i v e t h o u g h t s , a n d a v o i d a n c e b e h a v i o u r w h e n c o n -f r on t e d w i th t h i s f e a r we r e 66 .4 , 80 .5 , a nd 75 .0 , re spe c t i ve ly . T he l e ve l o f i n t e r f e r e nc e a n dw o r r y a b o u t t h e t o p i n t e n s e f e a r w e r e 4 . 2 (SD = 2.3) and 4.3 (SD = 2.1) , respectively.Origins o]I com mo n . ars

T a b l e 3 s h o w s p e r ce n t a g e s o f c h i l d r e n w h o r e p o r t e d m o d e l i n g , i n f o r m a t i o n , a n d c o n d i t i o n i n ge x p e r i e n c e s i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e i r m o s t f e a r e d s t i m u l u s o r s i t u a t i o n . A s c a n b e s e e n i n t h e t o pr o w s o f t h e l e ft c o l u m n i n t h i s t a b le , t h e v a st m a j o r i t y ( 8 7 . 8 ) r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e y h a d h e a r df r i g h t e n i n g th i n g s a b o u t t h e i r m o s t f e a r e d s t i m u l u s o r s i t u a t i o n . T h e p e r c e n t a g e s o f c h i l d re nw h o e n d o r s e d m o d e l i n g a n d c o n d i t io n i n g p a t h w a y s w e r e c o n s i d e ra b l y l o w er : 4 9 . 6 a n d 6 1 . 1 ,r e spe c t i ve ly . Howe ve r , c h i l d r e n i nd i c a t e d t ha t no t a l l t he se e xpe r i e nc e s ha d a c tua l l y i n t e ns i f i e dthe i r f e a r (i .e . p l a ye d a r o l e i n the m a in t e na n c e o f f e a r) . T he pe r c e n t a ge s o f c h i l d r e n w hor e p o r t e d ex p e r ie n c e s t h a t m a d e t h e m m o r e f e a r fu l w e r e 3 . 8 f o r m o d e l i n g , 3 5 . 1 f o r i n f o r -m a t i o n , a n d 4 5 . 8 f o r c o n d i t i o n i n g ( se e m i d d l e r o w s o f t h e le f t c o l u m n in T a b l e 3 ).P e r c e n t a g e s w e r e e v e n m o r e c o n s e r v a t i v e w h e n c h i l d r e n w e r e a s k e d t o w h a t e x t e n t t h e s e e x -p e r ie n c e s m a r k e d t h e o n s e t o f t h e i r fe a r: 3 9 .7 a s c r ib e d t h e a c t u a l o n s e t o f t h e ir fe a r to a c o n -d i t i o n i n g e x p e r ie n c e , 3 2 . 8 h a d n o c l e a r i d e a a b o u t h o w t h e i r f e a r b e g a n ( 3 2 . 8 ) , 2 6 .7r e p o r t e d a n i n f o r m a t i o n p a t h w a y , a n d o n l y 0 . 8 i n d i c a t e d t h a t th e i r f e a r b e g a n w i t h a m o d e l -i ng e xpe r i e nc e ( se e bo t tom r ows o f t he l e f t c o lum n in T a b le 3 ) .

I n s p e c t i o n o f th e s e p a r a t e f e a r c l u s te r s r ev e a l ed t h a t c o n d i t i o n i n g w a s r e p o r t e d a s t h e m o s tf r e q u e n t p a t h w a y f o r f e a r o f a n i m a l s , m e d i c a l f e a r s , a n d f e a r o f f a i l u r e a n d c r i t i c i s m . F o r t h e s ef e a r c a t eg o r i e s, a r e la t i v el y h i g h p e r c e n t a g e o f c h i l d re n i n d i c a t e d t h a t a c o n d i t i o n i n g e x p e r i e n c eh a d c a u s e d t h e m t o b e m o r e f e a r fu l a n d / o r t h a t t h e o n s e t o f t h e i r f e a r w a s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h s u cha n e x p e ri en c e. F o r f e a r o f th e u n k n o w n a n d f e a r o f d a n g e r a n d d e a t h , t h e i n f o r m a t i o n p a t h w a yw a s m o s t o f t e n r e p o r t e d . A s t o t h e a g e o f o n s e t , f e a r o f a n i m a l s b e g a n a t a n e a r l y a g e( M = 6 .5 y r ) , w h e r e a s f e a r o f d a n g e r a n d d e a t h a n d m e d i c a l f e a r s a p p e a r e d r e la t iv e l y l a te( m e a ns be ing 8 .5 a nd 8 .3 y r , r e spe c t i ve ly ) .

A c o n s i d e r a b l e m i n o r i t y o f c h i l d r e n w h o m e n t i o n e d s p i d e rs a s t h e ir t o p i n t e n s e fe a r (4 1 . 7 ;s ee r ig h t c o l u m n o f T a b l e 3 ) s a i d t h a t t h e o n s e t o f th e i r f e a r w a s c o n n e c t e d t o a c o n d i t i o n i n g


6/9

9 3 4 P e t e r M u r i s et aLT a b l e 4 . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a n d p a t h w a y s o f f e a r in c h i l d r e n w h o r e p o r t n o n e ' , ' s o m e ' , o r ' a l o t o f f e a r o f s p i d e r s

N o n e f e a r o f ' S o m e ' f e a r o f ' A l o t ' f e a r o f F o r ~ 2 psp iders (n = 43 ) sp iders (n = 45 ) sp iders (n = 41 )C h a r a c t e r i s t i c sIn t ens i t y 2 .3 (1 .8 ) 4 .0 (2 .4 ) 6 .4 (2 .2 ) 37 .9 < 0 .001Level o f i n t e r fe re nce 1 .6 (1 .3 ) 2 .4 (1 .7 ) 3 .1 (2 .3 ) 7 .4 < 0 .005

Fre que ncy o f wo rry 1 .6 ( I . 1 ) 1 .7 (1 .0 ) 3 .3 (2 .4 ) 16 .2 < 0 .001P h y s i c a l s y m p t o m s 1 5 .9 3 6 . 9 6 3 . 4 2 0 . 3 < 0 . 0 0 1Neg at ive t hou gh t s 18 .1 36 .9 56 .1 13 .1 < 0 .005A v o i d a n c e b e h a v i o u r 4 5 . 4 6 7 . 4 9 5 . I 2 4 . 4 < 0 . 0 0 1O r i g i n sE x p e r i e n c e sM o d e l i n g e x p e r i e n c e s 7 5 . 0 7 6 . I 9 0 . 2 3 . 8 N SI n f o r m a t i o n e x p e r i e n c e s 9 5 . 5 9 3 . 5 9 2 . 7 0 . 3 N SCo nd i t i on in g exper i enc es 18 .2 37 .0 63 .4 18 .4 < 0 .001

E x p e r i e n c e s i n t e n s i f y i n g f e a rD i d m o d e l i n g c a u s e m o r e f e a r ? 0 . 0 6 . 5 2 . 4 3 . 3 N SD i d i n f o r m a t i o n c a u s e m o r e f e a r ? 2 0 . 5 2 1 . 7 3 4 .1 2 . 6 N SD i d c o n d i t i o n i n g c a u s e m o r e f e a r ? 2 . 2 3 0 . 4 4 1 . 5 1 9. 0 < 0 . 0 0 1Note F o r a l l v a r i a b l e s , t h e p e r c e n t a g e s o f c h i l d r e n r e p o r t i n g t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o r p a t h w a y a r e g i v e n , e x c e p t f o r i n t e n s it y , le v el o f i n t e r f e r -e n c e , a n d f r e q u e n c y o f w o r r y . F o r t h e s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , t h e m e a n s c o r e o n a 1 0 - p o i n t s c a l e is s h o w n .

e v e n t. F u r t h e r m o r e , a s u b s t a n t i a l p r o p o r t i o n ( 4 5 . 8 ) i n d i c a te d th a t t h e y d i d n o t k n o w h o wt h e i r f e a r o f s p i d e rs h a d s t a r te d . M e a n o n s e t a g e f o r s p i d e r f e a r w a s 5 .9 y r S D = 3.5).Origins o f sp ider fea r

T : le d a t a o f t h e s e c o n d p a r t o f t h e i n t er v i e w w e r e u s ed t o a n a l y z e t h e o r i g in s o f t h e t o pint er ~se c h i ld hoo d f e a r , i. e. f e a r o f sp ide r s , in m o r e de t a i l . Ba se d on c h i ld r e n ' s r a t i ng o f FS SC - Ri tem 25 (i .e . spiders) , low fear fu l (n = 44) , mo de ra t e fear fu l (n = 46), an d h igh fear fu l (n = 41)gr ou ps we r e f o r m e d ( see T a b le 4 ) . As e xpe c t e d , t he t h r e e g r ou ps d i f f e re d s ign i f ic a n t ly w i threga rd to ' in ten si ty of spide r fear ' [F(2,126) = 37.9, P < 0.001], leve l of inte r fe ren ce cau sed b yspider fear [F(1,126) = 7.4, P < 0.005] , f re qu en cy o f wor ry a bo ut spiders [F(2,126) = 16.2,P < 0 .001], a nd r e a c t ions w he n c on f r on te d w i th a sp ide r [ Z2(2) = 20 .3, P < 0 .001 f o r phys i c a lsym ptom s ; Z 2( 2) = 13 .1 , P < 0 .005 f o r ne ga t iv e t ho ugh t s ; a n d Z 2( 2) = 24 .4 , P < 0 .001 f o ra v o i d a n c e b e h a v i o u r ] .

A n a l y s i s o f t h e ' p a t h w a y s o f f e a r ' r e v e a l e d n o d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e t h r e e g r o u p s w i t hr e s p e c t t o m o d e l i n g a n d i n f o r m a t i o n e x p e r i e n c e s . H o w e v e r , ~ 2 a na lyse s r e ve a l e d s ign i f i c a n te f f ec t s f o r c ond i t i on ing e xpe r i e nc e s . As c a n be se e n in T a b le 4 , h igh f e a r f u l c h i ld r e n r e p or t e dm o r e c o n d i t i o n i n g e x p er ie n c e s w i t h sp i d e rs t h a n m o d e r a t e a n d l o w f e a rf u l c h i l d r e n[X2(2) = 18 .4 , P < 0 .001]. Fu r the r m or e , a h ig he r pe r c e n ta g e o f t he h igh f e a r f u l c h i ld r e n c l a im e dt h a t s u c h c o n d i t i o n i n g e x p e r ie n c e s h a d m a d e t h e m m o r e f e a r fu l o f s p id e r s [ Z 2 ( 2 ) = 19 .0 ,P < 0.001].

D I S C U S S I O NI n t h e c u r r e n t s t u d y , h i e r a rc h i e s o f c o m m o n c h i l d h o o d f e a rs w e r e o b t a i n e d a l o n g t w o d i f fe r -

e n t w a y s . O n e f e a r r a n k o r d e r w a s b a s e d o n t h e F S S C - R s c o r e s , w h e r e a s t h e o t h e r f e a r r a n ko r d e r w a s b a s e d o n w h a t c h i l d r e n i n d i c a t e d a s t h e i r m o s t i n t e n s e f e a r ( i . e . f r e e o p t i o n m e t h o d ) .I n l i n e w i t h o u r p r e v i o u s s t u d y ( M u r i s et al., 1997) , im por t a n t d i f f e r e nc e s be twe e n bo th f e a rr a n k o r d e r s e m e r g e d . F o r e x a m p l e , w h e r e a s t h e F S S C - R i n d i c a t e d t h a t f e a r s o f d a n g e r a n dd e a t h h a v e t h e h i g h e s t p r e v a l en c e , t h e f re e o p t i o n m e t h o d s u g g e s t ed t h a t f e a rs o f a n i m a l s a r et h e m o s t f r e q u e n t i n t e n s e f e a r s . K i r k p a t r i c k ( 1 9 8 4 ) d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t i n f e a r s u r v e y s a m o n ga d u l t m e n a n d w o m e n , t h e p r ec i se t e c h n i q u e t h a t i s u s e d a f f e ct s t h e o u t c o m e o f th e s u r v e y . T h es t u d y b y M u r i s et al. ( 1997) , a s we l l a s t he c ur r e n t s t udy , de m ons t r a t e s t ha t m uc h the sa m e i st r u e f o r f e a r s u r v e y s a m o n g c h i l d r e n .I t is d i ff ic u l t t o d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r t h e F S S C - R a s a s u r v e y i n s t r u m e n t i s s u p e r i o r t o t h e f r e eo p t i o n m e t h o d . B o t h m e t h o d s m a y h a v e a d v a n t a g e s . T h e f r e e o p t i o n m e t h o d r e l i e s o n a s i m p l ea n d s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d q u e s t i o n ( ' W h a t d o y o u f e a r m o s t ? ' ) a n d i t i s p l a u s i b l e t o a s s u m e t h a t i tg i v es a g o o d p i c t u r e o f t h e s t im u l i o r s i t u a t i o n s t h a t a r e f r i g h t e n i n g f o r c h il d r e n . O n t h e o t h e r


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Common childhood fears 935ha nd , t he FS SC -R l is ts a nu mb e r o f i te ms t ha t m a y pr i me a n d re m i nd c h i l d ren o f the i r f ea r s .Pe rha ps , t he n , r e sea rc h i n to t he p re va le nc e a nd or i g i ns o f c om m on c h i l dh ood fe a rs shou l d c om-bine both approaches (e .g . Ki rkpa t r ick, 1984) .

The se c ond pu rpose o f the s t udy wa s t o e xa mi ne t he o r ig i ns o f c om m on c h i l dhood fe a rs . Inge ne ra l , c ond i t i on i ng wa s found t o be t he mos t c ommonl y re por t e d pa t hwa y . Onl y fo r c e r t a i nt ype s o f f e a r (i. e. f ea r s o f t he unk now n a nd fe a rs o f da nge r a nd de a t h) , t he i n forma t i on pa t hw a ywas m ore p rom inent . Fina l ly , a more f inegra ined a na lys i s of the top intense fear in chi ldren, i .e .fear of spiders , was carr ied out . Pa thw ays to fear of chi ldren w ho re porte d 'n one ' , ~some ' or ~al o t ' o f sp i de r f e a r we re c ompa re d wi t h e a c h o t he r . No d i f fe re nc e s be t we e n t he t h re e g roups we refoun d w i th r e spe c t to t he f r e que nc y of mode l i ng a nd i n forma t i on e xpe r ie nc e s. How e ve r , c on-d i t i on i ng e xpe r i e nc e s we re more o f t e n e ndorse d by h i gh fe a r fu l c h i l d re n t ha n by l ow or mode r -a te fearful chi ldren.

Al l i n al l, t he p re se n t s t udy foun d a pa t t e rn o f pa t hwa y s t ha t d i f f e re d f rom t ha t r e por t e d byOl l e nd i ck a nd Ki ng ' s (1991) s t udy on t he o r ig i ns o f p re va l e n t FSS C -R fe ar s . The se a u t horsfoun d t ha t a ma j or i t y o f ch i l d re n a t t r i bu t e d t he onse t o f t he ir f e a r to t he i n forma t i on pa t hw a y ,whe re a s t he c ur re n t da t a sugge s t t ha t c ondi t i on i ng i s t he mos t p romi ne n t pa t hwa y t o c ommonchi ldhood fears . There a re two fac tors tha t may account for these conf l ic t ing resul t s . Fi rs t ofa ll , 9 ou t o f 10 fea r s t ha t w e re e xa mi ne d i n t he Ol l e nd i ck a nd Ki ng s t udy we re f e a r s o f da nge ra nd de a t h . I t i s i n t u i t i ve l y p l a us i b l e t o a s sume t ha t t he i n forma t i on pa t hwa y p l a ys a n i mpor t a n tro l e in t h is t ype o f f e a r. Inde e d , t he p re se n t da t a a l so de m ons t ra t e t ha t n e ga t ive i n forma t i onwa s t he mo s t f r e que n t l y e ndo rse d pa t hw a y i n c h i ld re n wh o re por t e d fe a r o f da nge r a nd de a t hi tems as the i r top intense fear . Secondly, Ol lendick and King s imply asked chi ldren whethert he y ha d e ve r ha d mode l i ng , i n forma t i on , a nd / or c ondi t i on i ng e xpe r i e nc e s wi t h t he f e a re d s t i mu-lus . These researchers did not ask chi ldren whether such exper iences had ac tua l ly intens i f iedthe i r fear and /or had playe d a role in the onse t o f the i r fear. In l ine wi th the f indings o fOl l e nd i c k a nd Ki ng (1991) , t he p re se n t s t udy found t ha t c h i l d re n more o f t e n re por t e d ne ga t i vei n forma t i on t ha n e i t he r c ondi t i on i ng or mode l i ng e xpe r i e nc e s . Howe ve r , t he c ur re n t r e su l t s a l sosugges t tha t wi th a more s t r i c t def ini t ion ( i . e . did the exper ience exacerba te fear and/or mark theonse t o f f e a rs ) , c ond i t i on i ng e xpe r i e nc e s a re t he domi na n t pa t hw a y .

In t he p re se n t s t udy , su rpr is i ng ly fe w c h i ld re n a t t r i bu t e d t he e xa c e rba t i on a nd / or onse t o fthe i r to p intense fear to m odel ing. At f i rs t s ight, thi s f inding confl ic ts wi th the resul t s of a pre-v i ous s t udy (M ur i s , S t e e rne ma n, M e rc ke l ba c h & Me e s t e r s , 199 6) . In t ha t s t udy , f e a r fu l ne s s (a si nde xe d by t he FSSC -R ) o f c h i l d re n wa s found t o be pos i t i ve l y a s soc i a t e d wi t h f e a r fu l ne s s o fthe mother . M or e spec if ica lly , a linear assoc ia t ion be tween FS SC -R scores and m othe rs ' ra t ingof e xpre s si ng fe a r s to t he i r c h i ld re n w a s found . T ha t i s t o s a y , ch i l d re n o f mo t he r s w ho ne ve re xpre s se d t he ir f e a r s ha d t he l owe s t FSSC -R sc ore s , ch i ld re n o f mot he r s w ho of t e n e xpre sse dt he ir f e a r s ha d t he h i ghe s t FSS C -R sc ore s , whe re a s c h i ld re n o f mo t he r s w ho som e t i me se xpre s se d t hei r f e a r s s c ore d in be t we e n . No t e , how e ve r , t ha t M ur i s e t a l (1996) studied the influ-ence of mo del ing on chi ldren 's genera l level of fearfulness , wh ereas the present s tu dy exam inedt he pa t hw a ys o f spe cif ic c h i l dho od fe a rs . In o t h e r w ords , i t ma y we l l be t he c a se tha t mode l i ngenhances genera l fearfulness in chi ldren, but plays a minor role in the acquis i t ion of spec i f icfears.

As to the o r igins of the top intense fear o f chi ldren, i .e . spider fear, the present resul t s accordwell wi th those o f a cl inica l s tu dy by Me rcke lba ch, M uri s and Sch outen (1996) . In tha t s tud y,40 .9 o f a s a mpl e o f sp ide r phobi c c h il d re n a sc r ibe d t he onse t o f the i r f e ar to a c ondi t ion i ngexper ience . Likewise , in the curre nt s tudy, 41.7 of the chi ldren who men t ioned spiders as the i rmo s t f e a re d ob j e c t , re por t e d t ha t a c on di t ion i ng e xpe r ie nc e ma rke d t he onse t o f t he ir f e a r. Thec om pa r i son of l ow, mo de ra t e , a nd h i gh sp i de r fe a r fu l c h i ld re n p rov i de d fu r t he r e v i de nc e fo r thero l e o f c ondi t ion i ng i n t he a c qu i s i ti on o f sp i de r f e ar . R e su l t s show e d t ha t h i gh fe a r fu l c h il d re nmore o f t e n re por t e d c ondi t i on i ng e xpe r i e nc e s t ha n d i d l ow or mode ra t e f e a r fu l c h i l d re n . Nodi f fe re nc e s be t we e n t he t h re e g roups we re found wi t h r e ga rd t o t he i n forma t i on a nd mode l i ngpa t hwa ys . Ot he r r e c e n t s t ud i e s a l so found e v i de nc e t o sugge s t t ha t , i n s e ve re c h i l dhood phobi a s ,c ondi t i on i ng p l a ys a more p romi ne n t ro l e t ha n ne ga t i ve i n forma t i on (e . g . Mi l g rom, Ma nc l ,Kin g & Weins te in, 1995 ; King, C low es-Ho l l ins & Ol lendick, 1997 ) . Tak en toge ther , these f ind-


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936 P e t e r M u r i s et al.ings provide further support for Rachm an's (Rachm an, 197 7 , 1991 ) e laborat ion o f the con-dit ioning model .

This conclusion is , o f course , di f f icul t to reconci le with the non-associat ive v iew of intensefears and pho bias (M enzies & Clarke, 1995; see, for a more elaborated critique o f the non-as-sociative account , Merckelbach, D e Jong, M uris & Van den H out , 1996) . According to thisview, there is a continuity between childhood fears and adult phobic disorders, with the formerarising spontaneously, i .e . without apparent traumatic event. In contrast to what one wouldexpect on the basis of the non-associative view, the current data found that children often attri-bute their fear to con dition ing experiences. Still , one c ould coun ter that such retrospectiveacc ou nts m ay be fueled by the attributional style of fearful children rather than their actual ex-periences (e.g. Withers & Dea ne, 19 95 ). There fore, future studies sh ould investigate theme tatheoretical beliefs of children abo ut fear acqu isit ion and the extent to w hich causal attribu-tions are validated by inform ation provided by parents (see, for exam ple, Kheriaty, Kleink nech t& Hym an, 1997 and M erckelbach e t a l . 1996).

A f inal remark pertains to the severity o f co m m on ch ildh ood fears. Ollendick and King(1994) fo un d that children's self-reports of fear were clearly asso ciate d wit h high levels o f dailyinterference and distress. Tha t is, 60 o f the children indicated that their fear resulted in 'a lot'of distress. T o a certain exten t, the present study con firms the idea that com m on ch ildh oodfears are distressing. For ex am ple, a conside rable percentage of the children reported ph ysicalsymp toms (66 .4 ) , negat ive thoughts (80 .5 ) , and avoidance behaviour (75 .0 ) when con-fronted with their most feared st imulus or situation. Ho we ver, the level of interference and fre-quen cy o f wor ry were far from high, m eans o n a 10-point scale being 4.2 and 4.3, respectively.To res olve this issue, future studies sh ould in vestigate the clinical signif icance of child hoo d fearsthrough the emp loym ent o f interview schedules for anxiety disorders (e.g. the An xiety Dis orde rsInterview Sched ule for Children; Silverman & Nelles, 1988 ) com bine d with a longitud inal set-up(i .e. multiple measure points in t ime). Only in this way, one can assess how stable and seriousthese fears are and to what extent they are a precursor of adult phobias.

Acknowledgement T e a c h e r s a n d s t a f f o f t h e D r i e p a s a n d t h e P i u s X s c h o o l i n E c h t , T h e N e t h e r l a n d s a r e t h a n k e d f o rthe ir par t ic ipat ion in th i s s tudy .

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Common Childhood Fears by PETER MURIS, HARALD MERCKELBACH and RON COLLARIS (1997) - an article