Fears in middle childhood : peer acceptance, self perception, and coping strategies of rural children

The purpose of this study was to (a) determine the relationship between Tearfulness of children in middle childhood and peer acceptance and self-perception, (b) to determine gender and grade differences in content and intensity of self-reported fears, and (c) to investigate the coping strategies used by children in middle childhood. The subjects were 137 rural fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children.

The Children's Fear Survey Schedule (Ryall & Dietiker, 1979) was used to determine the content and intensity of children's fears. The MacB Personal Competence Inventory (McDougal & Brown, 1971) was used to measure peer acceptance and self-perception. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were used to ascertain the relationship between Tearfulness and peer acceptance and self-perception. A two-way analysis of variance was used to determine grade and gender differences in the self-reported fear of children. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the content and intensity of fears and the reported coping strategies.

The results indicated that children's Tearfulness was related to self-perception but was not related to peer acceptance. Children's self-reports of fear varied by gender but not by grade.

Content of fears was similar for boys and girls, but girls reported higher levels of intensity of fear responses. Personal and social resources were both coping strategies used by children in response to fear stimuli. The results indicated the need for future research to investigate numerous variables influencing the development of fear in children, to determine intensity levels of fear responses, and to find strategies used by children in response to fear stimuli.