Origins of childhood fears: An evaluation of Rachman's theory of fear acquisition
Abstract
This study explored Rachman's (1977) theory of fear acquisition in a large sample of Australian and American children and adolescents. Participants completed a questionnaire that addressed different pathways of fear acquisition for 10 highly prevalent fears. The majority of children attributed the onset of their fears to vicarious and instructional factors, although these indirect sources of fear were often combined with direct conditioning experiences. Also examined were effects for gender, age, and nationality. Boys and preadolescents were found to report more direct and vicarious experiences than girls or adolescents. Effects due to nationality were minimal. Methodological limitations attendant to self-reports were acknowledged.
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In Ollendick & King (1991), the majority of participants (89%) across 10 fears reported experiencing the information/instruction pathway, followed by the vicarious pathway (56%), while 36% reported experiencing a direct conditioning event.
“the majority of participants (89%), across the 10 fears, reported experiencing the information/instruction pathway, followed by the vicarious pathway (56%), while 36% reported experiencing a direct conditioning event.”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Ollendick & King, 1991
A portion of children who reported 'a lot' of fear did not experience a direct conditioning event, or reported 'no fear' after experiencing a direct conditioning event.
“Interestingly, a portion of children who reported ' a lot ' of fear did not experience a direct conditioning event, or reported ' no fear ' after experiencing a direct conditioning event.”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Ollendick & King, 1991
Ollendick & King (1991) found that those reporting 'a lot' of fear were more likely to endorse a combination of pathways than those endorsing no fear.
“Indeed, Ollendick & King (1991) found that those reporting ' a lot ' of fear were more likely to endorse a combination of pathways than those endorsing no fear.”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Ollendick & King, 1991
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The Developmental Psychopathology of Anxiety
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“…and adolescents were investigated, the majority of respondents attributed the onset of their fear to vicarious and instructional factors, although those who endorsed a high level of fear also endorsed direct conditioning experience in combination with these sources (Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“Ollendick and King (1991) found that a large majority (88.8”
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“A considerable amount of literature supports the notion that anxiety is multiply determined and perhaps overdetermined through a network of biological, sociocultural, and psychosocial factors (see Ollendick & King, 1991, and Silverman & Ginsburg, 1998, for reviews).”
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“Summarising this wealth of research (e.g. Muris et al., 1997a; Muris, Merckelbach, Meesters and Van Lier, 1997b; Ollendick and King, 1991; Silverman and Nelles, 1989) it seems that normative fears develop in the following way: situations/environment (early childhood), animals and ghosts (4-8 years old), injury (pre-ad…”
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Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Muris, P. (2002) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/1475-3588.00019 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
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“Over the past 30 years, a lot of retrospective research has shown that phobic children and adolescents will attribute their fear to both of these pathways (King, Gullone, & Ollendick, 1998; Merckelbach, de Jong, Muris, & van den Hout, 1996; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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Watt, M. C., Stewart, S. H., & Cox, B. J. (1998) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)10029-8 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
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“Most of the studies, conducted in the 1980s and the early 1990s based on the Revised Fear Survey Schedule [Ollendick and King, 1991], have reported differences in the frequency and types of fears and anxiety reported by children and adolescents in different cultures.”
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Merckelbach, H. L. G. J. (1996) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(96)00014-1 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Deficient safety learning characterizes high trait anxious individuals
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“Similar to Ollendick and King (1991), these authors found that exposure to negative information was the most prominent pathway to fear, followed by conditioning and modeling.”
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King, N. J., Eleonora, G., & Ollendick, T. H. (1998) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00015-1 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
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“In line with the findings of Ollendick and King (1991) , the present study found that children more often reported negative information than either conditioning or modeling experiences.”
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“First, a significant number of participants with phobias do not remember traumatic or conditioning events that might have contributed to fear acquisition (e.g., Graham & Gaffan, 1997; Kleinknecht, 1994; Menzies & Clarke, 1993a, 1995; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“…that verbal threat information is a viable pathway to fear is based on retrospective methodology in which adults with specific phobias assign their fear experiences to one of Rachman’s pathways using the Phobic Origin Questionnaire (Öst & Hugdahl, 1981; see Ollendick & King, 1991, for a review).”
MethodTemperament, Anxiety, and Depression: Comparisons Across Five Ethnic Groups of Children
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“Gender differences in anxiety appear to follow a general pattern, with girls reporting higher prevalence and intensity of fears and anxiety than boys (e.g., Beidel, Turner, Hamlin, & Morris, 2000; Ollendick & King, 1991; Scherer & Nakamura, 1968).”
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“In the fi rst study, Ollendick and King (1991) examined to what extent Rachman’s theory of fear acquisition can be applied to the top 10 intensive FSSC fears.”
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“…fear to items on the Fear Survey Schedule for Children–Revised will often attribute their fear to negative information (Ollendick & King, 1991), and negative information can sometimes be the most prominent of the three pathways (Muris, Merckelbach, Gadet, & Moulaert, 2000; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“Biophobia or fear towards nature could be developed even when an individual is lack of direct experiences in nature (Ollendick and King 1991; Öst and Hugdahl 1981; Sipes, Rardin, and Fitzgerald 1985).”
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Kleinknecht, R. A. (1994) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)90161-9 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Fear in Infancy: Lessons From Snakes, Spiders, Heights, and Strangers
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“…le is in te nd ed so le ly fo r th e pe rs on al us e of th e in di vi du al us er an d is no t to be di ss em in at ed br oa dl y. Collaris, 1997; Ollendick & King, 1991; Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989); such fears are not reported widely in infants or preschoolers, and are related to the…”
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“It is important to note that the three pathways of fear are not independent, but interactive (Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“Questionnaires given to children or their parents indicate that a consistent percentage of children attribute the onset of their fears to modeling experiences (Menzies and Clarke 1993; Merckelbach et al. 1996; Ollendick and King 1991).”
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“Furthermore, researchers have suggested that it is unlikely that fear pathways work in isolation (Mineka & Zinbarg, 2006) and that the interaction of multiple pathways is the most common cause of fear (Merckelbach, de Ruiter, van den Hout, & Hoekstra, 1989; Muris, 2007; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“…linked with later anxiety disorder including direct or vicarious (observation of others) exposure to threat, and receipt of negative or threatening information through word of mouth or media (Askew & Field, 2008; Field, Argyris, & Knowles, 2001; Ollendick & King, 1991; Rachman, 2019, 1990, 1991).”
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Field, A. P., & Schorah, H. (2007) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01772.x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
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“This is important because the development of fears and anxieties in humans is often more complex than the simple Pavlovian conditioning model proposes as they may, for instance, develop from vicarious learning or instructions (e.g., Ollendick & King, 1991).”
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“Following this suggestion, numerous studies have found support for the role of modelling, with a significant minority of phobic patients reporting their fears to have commenced following the observation of fearful behaviour in the presence of a particular stimulus (e.g., Ollendick & King, 1991).”
ResultPathways to fear in spider phobic children
Merckelbach, H., Muris, P., & Schouten, E. (1996) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00052-6 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
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“Spence (1994) states that part of children’s development is the acquisition of control over their fears.”
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“Doogan & Thomas, 1992; King, Clowes-Hollins, & Ollendick, 1997; Ollendick & King, 1991 ).”
Self-citationThe verbal information pathway to fear and subsequent causal learning in children
Field, A. P., & Lawson, J. (2008) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930801886532 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
“Although some believe that threat information is the most important of these pathways (Muris, Merckelbach, Gadet, & Moulaert, 2000; Ollendick & King, 1991), much of the supporting evidence is based on retrospective methodology using questionnaires on which adult phobics assign experiences to one…”
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The etiology of childhood dog phobia
King, N. J., Clowes-Hollins, V., & Ollendick, T. H. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00067-8 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-citationPerceptual and conceptual similarities facilitate the generalization of instructed fear
Bennett, M., Vervoort, E., Boddez, Y., Hermans, D., & Baeyens, F. (2015) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.03.011 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
“…hearing or reading about the threat value of a stimulus can also lead to fear and this is supported by extensive research (Dymond, Schlund, Roche, DeHouwer, & Freegard, 2012; Muris & Field, 2011; Ollendick & King, 1991; Ollson & Phelps, 2007; Raes, De Houwer, De Schryver, Brass & Kalisch, 2014).”
BackgroundTreatment of Specific Phobia in Children and Adolescents
Ollendick, T. H., Davis, T. E., & Muris, P. (2004) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470753385.ch12 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationOne-Session Treatment of Specific Phobias in Children: Recent Developments and a Systematic Review
Davis, T. E., Ollendick, T. H., & Öst, L. (2018) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095608 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-citationKing, N. J. (1997) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(97)00014-7 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Self-citationFamily history of psychological problems in generalized anxiety disorder
McLaughlin, K. A., Behar, E., & Borkovec, T. D. (2008) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20497 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
“Moreover, a large community study reported that over 50% of children reported vicarious learning experiences to be responsible for the development of their fears (Ollendick & King, 1991).”
BackgroundField, A. P., Hamilton, S. J., Knowles, K. O., & Plews, E. L. (2002) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(02)00050-5 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
“(Rachman, 1977). Although there is some evidence that adult phobics ( Ollendick & King, 1991;”
BackgroundInfluentialCarpenter, A. L., Elkins, R. M., Kerns, C. E., Chou, T., Green, J. G., & Comer, J. S. (2015) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2015.1063432 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“…with previous studies conducted in families not exposed to terrorism that highlight the key roles of parental emotion regulation and caregiver modeling in fostering optimal child outcomes following threat (Barrett et al., 1996; Ollendick & King, 1991; Reynolds et al., 2014; Ugland et al., 2013).”
BackgroundMerckelbach, H., Arntz, A., Arrindell, W., & de Jong, P. D. (1992) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(92)90039-j · Cited by 39 · see citing works
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“Studies suggest that parents’ modeling of anxiety contributes to the perception that events are threatening and that successful outcomes are unlikely (Merckelbach et al. 1996; Ollendick and King 1991; Becker and Ginsburg 2011).”
BackgroundLi, H., & Morris, R. J. (2006) · Research in Developmental Disabilities · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2006.06.001 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Perceptions of stressful life events in Northern Irish school children: a longitudinal study.
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Retrospective studies of the origins of phobias: A review
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Fear of water in children and adults: Etiology and familial effects
Graham, J., & Gaffan, E. A. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00086-1 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Frequency of Phobic Disorder in a Community Sample of Young Adolescents
MILNE, J. M., Garrison, C. Z., Addy, C. L., McKeown, R. E., Jackson, K. L., Cuffe, S. P., & Waller, J. L. (1995) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-199509000-00018 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Water trauma and swimming experiences up to age 9 and fear of water at age 18: a longitudinal study
Poulton, R., Menzies, R. G., Craske, M. G., Langley, J. D., & Silva, P. A. (1999) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00103-x · Cited by 38 · see citing works
What Happens When Verbal Threat Information and Vicarious Learning Combine?
Askew, C., Kessock-Philip, H., & Field, A. P. (2008) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465808004402 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“…of Rachman’s pathways to fear, they do not operate in isolation (Mineka and Zinbarg, 2006): Rachman and subsequent researchers acknowledge that an anxious individual will most likely endorse several of these routes as having contributed to their fear (Muris, 2007; Ollendick and King, 1991).”
BackgroundField, A. P., Ball, J. E., Kawycz, N. J., & Moore, H. (2007) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465807003736 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Annotation: Treatment of Childhood Phobias
King, N. J., & Ollendick, T. H. (1997) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01524.x · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationSchool-age children's fears, anxiety, and human figure drawings
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Generalization of socially transmitted and instructed avoidance
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“, Askew and Field, 2007, 2008; Muris and Field, 2010) and is consistent with the clinical observation that individuals with anxiety do not always report prior direct conditioning episodes like those modeled in fear-conditioning paradigms (Merckelbach et al., 1989; Ollendick and King, 1991).”
ResultMuris, P., Huijding, J., Mayer, B., Leemreis, W. H., Passchier, S., & Bouwmeester, S. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374410902976379 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Most of the evidence is based on studies that examined children's subjective reports to the question whether negative information had played a role in the onset or exacerbation of their main fear or phobia (eg, Muris, Merckelbach, & Collaris, 1997 ; Ollendick & King, 1991 ).”
BackgroundSilverman, W. K., & Moreno, J. L. (2005) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.chc.2005.05.004 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Autobiographical memories of vomiting in people with a specific phobia of vomiting (emetophobia)
Veale, D. M., Murphy, P., Ellison, N., Kanakam, N., & da Costa, A. C. C. (2012) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.06.002 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“In contrast to some specific phobias, most of the participants in the current study do remember conditioning events that might have contributed to fear acquisition (Graham & Gaffan, 1997; Kleinknecht, Dinnel, & Kleinknecht, 1994; Menzies & Clarke, 1993, 1995; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
ResultOrigins of common fears in South African children
Muris, P., du Plessis, M., & Loxton, H. (2008) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.03.004 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Muris, P., Huijding, J., Mayer, B., van As, W., & van Alem, S. (2010) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.11.006 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Origins of common fears: Effects on severity, anxiety responses and memories of onset
Withers, R. D., & Deane, F. P. (1995) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(95)00044-x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Lobue, V., Kim, E., & Delgado, M. (2019) · Handbook of Emotional Development · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17332-6_11 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Fliek, L., Dibbets, P., Roelofs, J., & Muris, P. (2016) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-016-0655-2 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“The first step involved an inspection of the initial set of PEAC items by two research experts in the field of fear acquisition (prof. Andy Field of Sussex University, Brighton, United Kingdom, and prof. Stanley Rachman of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and 26 clinicians who worked with anxiety…”
ResultAutism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Phobia: the Role of Sensory Sensitivity: Brief Review
Muskett, A., Radtke, S., White, S., & Ollendick, T. (2019) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s40489-019-00159-w · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationSilvers, J., Callaghan, B., VanTieghem, M., Choy, T., O'Sullivan, K., & Tottenham, N. (2020) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.13056 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“Second, retrospective studies of adults with phobias suggest that childhood fears and phobias are often acquired vicariously (Ollendick & King, 1991; Öst, 1987).”
BackgroundNicastro, E. A., & Whetsell, M. V. (1999) · Journal of Pediatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/s0882-5963(99)80068-2 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Davis, T. E. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09530-1_7 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ollendick, T. H., & King, N. J.
- Affiliations
- Virginia Tech (US)
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Ollendick, Thomas H.
- ORCID
- Ollendick, Thomas H.
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1991
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 117-123
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2066505366
- Cited by
- 220
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 6.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- children's fears, fear acquisition, observational learning, instructional learning, gender differences, age differences, nationality effects, children and adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Age Factors, Analysis of Variance, Child, Child Development, Conditioning, Psychological, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Phobic Disorders, Retrospective Studies, Sex Factors, Chi-Square Distribution
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