The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Fear of spiders’ questionnaire
Abstract
The Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ), an 18-item self-report questionnaire assessing spider phobia, was developed in an attempt to complement the information provided by the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ). Data obtained from 338 undergraduates revealed that the FSQ was able to discriminate phobics from nonphobics, and indicated decrements in phobic responding from pretest to posttest following cognitive therapy. Test-retest data, obtained from non-treatment control groups, indicated that scores on the FSQ are stable over a one month period. The FSQ also demonstrated adequate convergent validity due to its significant correlations with the SPQ and a behavioral avoidance test. Finally, a factor analysis revealed two factors accounting for 55% of the variance. It is argued that, compared to the SPQ, items on the FSQ are more explicit regarding the time period to be assessed, and may be more sensitive to differences between phobics and nonphobics and decrements in phobic responding following treatment.
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In the citing paper
“Seven RCTs identified phobic participants with a validated fear questionnaire (Muris & Merckelbach, 1996; Szymanski & O’Donoghue, 1995) and by assessing their approach behavior towards the tarantula (N=344; Siegel, Anderson & Han, 2011; Siegel, Cohen & Warren, 2022; Siegel & Gallagher, 2015; Siegel, Warren, Jacobson & Merritt, 2018; Siegel & Weinberger, 2009, 2012; Weinberger, unpublishedf).”
From Advancing the treatment of anxiety disorders in transition‐age youth: a review of the therapeutic effects of unconscious exposure. (2025) · cites this paper as Szymanski & O’Donoghue, 1995
In the citing paper
“The FSQ has excellent psychometric properties.”
From In Vivo versus augmented reality exposure in the treatment of small animal phobia: A randomized controlled trial (2016) · cites this paper as [55]
In the citing paper
“According to the authors, the FSQ has good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha=.92) and split-half reliability (.89).”
Citations
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Self-citationThe potential role of state-dependent learning in cognitive therapy with spider phobics
Szymanski, J., & O’Donohue, W. (1995) · Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1007/bf02354458 · Cited by 12
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“The evaluation on a German version of the ‘‘Fear of Spiders Questionnaire’’ (Szymanski and O’Donohue 1995) with a maximum of 108 points resulted in a reduction from 100 points before DBS to 78 points 1 years after DBS surgery (-22 %).”
BackgroundKoch, E. I. (2001) · ScholarWorks - WMU (Western Michigan University)
Booth, R. W., Peker, M., & Oztop, P. (2016)
Frías, Á. (2015) · Archives of Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.17352/2455-5460.000006
“- The Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ) is an 18-item selfreport questionnaire assessing spider phobia based on a 7-point Likert-type response options [25].”
BackgroundFears, Phobias and Disgust Related to Bees
Münstedt, K., & Muhlhans, A. K. (2013)
Spatial and temporal processing biases in visual working memory in specific anxiety
Reinecke, A. (2007) · Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden)
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The effects of multiple forms of disgust exposure on the processing of emotional photographic images
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Prasad, A., McQuade, B., & Schofield, C. A. (2018) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92279-9_43
Armas, J., & Andaluz, V. H. (2018) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03801-4_60
Affective flexibility without perceptual awarenessPreprint
Homan, P., Lau, H. L., Levy, I., Raio, C. M., Bach, D. R., Carmel, D., & Schiller, D. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/505545
“Abbreviations: STAIS/STAIT, state/trait anxiety subscale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; FSQ, Fear of Spider Questionnaire, ~, P < .1; *, P < .05.”
MethodInfluentialImproving Stimulus Realism: The effect of visual dimension on affective responding
Compton, S. (2019) · Scholarship@Western (Western University)
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
Lorenzo, G. D., Jannini, T. B., Longo, L., Rossi, R., Siracusano, A., & Dell’Osso, B. M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-43356-7_13
Hood, M. (2004) · University of Canterbury Research Repository (University of Canterbury) · doi:10.26021/10963
Trait Anxiety and Trait Disgust in Spider Phobia
Vernon, L. L., & Hirai, M. (2011) · ScholarWorks @ UTRGV (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
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Lemmens, A. (2022) · Research Publications (Maastricht University) · doi:10.26481/dis.20221222al
Oar, E. L., Lavell, C. H., & Ollendick, T. H. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-91497-0.00254-x
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Lor, C. S., Karner, A., Zhang, M., Kostorz, K., Sladky, R., & Scharnowski, F. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.12.29.573600
“We also collected pre-post exposure phobia severity scores (Fear of Spider Questionnaire (FSQ) (Szymanski & O’Donohue, 1995) and Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) (Muris et al., 1998)) one day (up to one week) after scanning (follow-up-1) and one month after scanning (follow-up-2).”
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Becker, M., Troje, N. F., Schmidt, F., & Haberkamp, A. (2024) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/z4rkb
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“A cohort of 941 undergraduate students from the University of Western Australia completed the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire earlier in the teaching semester, and invitations to participate in the study were disseminated to students who scored in the top third of Fear of Spiders Questionnaire scores (FSQ score ≥ 59).”
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Gibbons, J. A., McManus, B. E., White, E. C., & Gibbons, A. M. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15050634
“Fear of spiders was measured using an adapted version of the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (Szymanski & O’Donahue, 1995), and courage was measured using the Courage Measure (CM; Norton & Weiss, 2009).”
Basanovic, J., Ranjbar, S., & MacLeod, C. (2025) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-025-10619-9
Shalev, T., & Hadad, B. (2025) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-025-03110-w
“At the end of testing, participants were asked to complete two questionnaires using Google Forms: 1) The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1983) and 2) Specific Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ; Szymanski & O’Donohue, 1995).”
Braun, M. N., Michael, T., Equit, M., & Lass‐Hennemann, J. (2025) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101648
The Act of Measurement: The Influence of Behavioural Tests on Spider Fear and Disgust
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Grill, M., Kloft, M., Anhäuser, S., & Haberkamp, A. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-23629-0 · Cited by 1
“We measured spider fear with the SPQ (German version by Hamm 47 ; original by Klorman et al. 49 , and corroborated the findings of the SPQ with the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ; German version by Rinck et al. 50 ; original by Szymanski and O’Donohue 51 ).”
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“Fear of spiders is further inversely associated with approach behaviors in spider-related BATs (Cochrane et al., 2008; Szymanski & O’Donohue, 1995).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Szymanski, J., & O'Donohue, W.
- Affiliations
- Northern Illinois University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Szymanski, Jeff
- Venue
- Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1995-03
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-34
- ISSN
- 0005-7916 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1995533212
- Cited by
- 450
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 1.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- spider phobia, phobia assessment, cognitive therapy, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, behavioral avoidance, questionnaire development
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Animals, Arousal, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Personality Inventory, Phobic Disorders, Psychometrics, Spiders, Reproducibility of Results, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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