Children's fears

The purpose of this study was to examine the number and content of children's fears, based on gender and age differences. Of further interest was children's spontaneous coping strategies for dealing with their fears. The subjects (n=40) were twenty three-, four-, and five-year-olds (10 boys and 10 girls) and twenty seven-, eight-, and nine-year-olds (10 boys and 10 girls). The Children's Fear Survey Schedule (Ryall & Dietiker, 1979) was used to determine the content and number of children's fears and three additional questions determined their preferred coping strategy. Analysis of variance and chi-square analyses were used to analyze the data. The results indicated no gender differences in number or content of fears, however a significant age difference did emerge. Younger children reported more fears than older children and also different fears than the older children. Also, younger children utilized primary control coping strategies in response to their fears, whereas older children generally used secondary control coping strategies when reacting to their fears.