Fear of the beast: a prospective study on the effects of negative information on childhood fear

The current study examined the effects of negative information on the enhancement of childhood fear. A large group of normal primary school children aged between 4 and 12 years (N=285) received either negative or positive information about an unknown, doglike animal, called ‘the beast’. Children’s f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behaviour research and therapy 2003-02, Vol.41 (2), p.195-208
Main Authors: Muris, Peter, Bodden, Denise, Merckelbach, Harald, Ollendick, Thomas H., King, Neville
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Analysis of Variance
Anxiety - psychology
Attitude to Death
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child development
Child, Preschool
Children
Developmental psychology
Effects
Fear & phobias
Fear - psychology
Fears
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Male
Negative information
Prospective Studies
Psychological Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Safety
Sex Factors
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:The current study examined the effects of negative information on the enhancement of childhood fear. A large group of normal primary school children aged between 4 and 12 years (N=285) received either negative or positive information about an unknown, doglike animal, called ‘the beast’. Children’s fears were assessed at three points in time: before, directly after, and one week after the information about the beast was provided (i.e., pre-, post- and follow-up assessment). Results showed that type of information changed children’s fear of the beast in the predicted direction with negative information increasing fear levels and positive information decreasing fear levels. This was not only the case directly after the experimental manipulation but also at one week follow-up. Furthermore, fear of the beast appeared to generalize, that is, children who became more fearful of the beast after receiving negative information, also became more apprehensive of other dogs and predators.
ISSN:0005-7967
1873-622X
DOI:10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00137-1