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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 the citing paper
“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
In the citing paper
“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
In the citing paper
“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
Citations
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Self-citationThe passing of the two-stage theory of fear and avoidance: Fresh possibilities
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The Developmental Psychopathology of Anxiety
Vasey, M. W., Bosmans, G., & Ollendick, T. H. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-9608-3_27 · Cited by 605
Self-citationBarlow, D. H., Ellard, K. K., Sauer-Zavala, S., Bullis, J. R., & Carl, J. R. (2014) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691614544528 · Cited by 491
“…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).”
BackgroundDevelopment of emotional facial recognition in late childhood and adolescence
Thomas, L. A., De Bellis, M. D., Graham, R., & LaBar, K. S. (2007) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00614.x · Cited by 396
“The expression of fear also develops and changes throughout childhood as the result of cognitive development and the ability to recognize and understand dangers in the environment (Ollendick & King, 1991).”
The development of anxiety disorders in childhood: an integrative review
Murray, L., Creswell, C., & Cooper, P. J. (2009) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291709005157 · Cited by 367
“2000); and although many people with a phobia do attribute onset to specific events (e.g. Ollendick & King, 1991; Muris et al .”
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“A few studies have examined fear acquisition following observation of stimulus-threat associations via questionnaires given to children or their parents (Menzies & Clarke, 1993; Merckelbach, Muris, & Schouten, 1996; Ollendick & King, 1991).”
BackgroundInfluentialMuris, P., Merckelbach, H. L. G. J., Gadet, B., & Moulaert, V. (2000) · Journal of Clinical Child Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2901_5 · Cited by 312
“Ollendick and King (1991) found that a large majority (88.8”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialPeer Victimization, Global Self-Worth, and Anxiety in Middle School Children
Grills, A. E., & Ollendick, T. H. (2002) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3101_08 · Cited by 305
“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).”
BackgroundSelf-citationOrigins of childhood dental fear
Milgrom, P., Mancl, L., King, B., & Weinstein, P. (1995) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)00042-i · Cited by 251
The role of parental fearfulness and modeling in children's fear
Muris, P., Steerneman, P., Merckelbach, H., & Meesters, C. (1996) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(95)00067-4 · Cited by 228
Field, A. P., & Lawson, J. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(03)00034-2 · Cited by 223
Conducting exposure treatment in multiple contexts can prevent relapse
Gunther, L. M., Denniston, J. C., & Miller, R. R. (1998) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)10019-5 · Cited by 210
Rapee, R. M. (2002) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(02)01572-x · Cited by 224
“Furthermore, such data have been reported for child populations (Ollendick and King 1991).”
BackgroundIs conditioning a useful framework for understanding the development and treatment of phobias?
Field, A. P. (2006) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.05.010 · Cited by 216
“There are also common themes that appear in the fears of ‘normal’ children (Ollendick & King, 1991) across different countries (Burnham & Gullone, 1997; Gullone & King, 1992).”
Pathways of fear and anxiety in dentistry: A review
Carter, A. E. (2014) · World Journal of Clinical Cases · doi:10.12998/wjcc.v2.i11.642 · Cited by 202
A clinical study of child dental anxiety
Townend, E., Dimigen, G., & Fung, D. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00205-8 · Cited by 195
Observed Fears and Discomforts among Urban Students on Field Trips to Wildland Areas
Bixler, R. D., Carlisle, C. L., Hammltt, W. E., & Floyd, M. F. (1994) · The Journal of Environmental Education · doi:10.1080/00958964.1994.9941430 · Cited by 199
Field, A. P., Argyris, N. G., & Knowles, K. A. (2001) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(00)00080-2 · Cited by 188
“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…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialFears and Phobias in Children: Phenomenology, Epidemiology, and Aetiology
Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Muris, P. (2002) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/1475-3588.00019 · Cited by 185
Self-citationChildhood dental fear in the Netherlands: prevalence and normative data
ten Berge, M., Veerkamp, J. S. J., Hoogstraten, J., & Prins, P. J. M. (2002) · Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0528.2002.300203.x · Cited by 184
The vicarious learning pathway to fear 40 years on
Askew, C., & Field, A. P. (2008) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2008.05.003 · Cited by 187
Distorted cognition and pathological anxiety in children and adolescents
Muris, P., & Field, A. P. (2008) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930701843450 · Cited by 207
“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).”
BackgroundA retrospective study of the learning history origins of anxiety sensitivity
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
Fears in Chinese Children and Adolescents and Their Relations to Anxiety and Depression
Dong, Q., Yang, B., & Ollendick, T. H. (1994) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1994.tb01167.x · Cited by 166
Self-citationHadwin, J. A., Garner, M. J., & Perez‐Olivas, G. (2006) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.09.004 · Cited by 168
Essau, C. A., Leung, P. W. L., Conradt, J., Cheng, H., & Wong, T. M. (2007) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20334 · Cited by 156
“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.”
BackgroundThe etiology of specific phobias: A review
Merckelbach, H. L. G. J. (1996) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(96)00014-1 · Cited by 156
Deficient safety learning characterizes high trait anxious individuals
Gazendam, F. J., Kamphuis, J. H., & Kindt, M. (2012) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.11.006 · Cited by 168
Terrorism: The psychological impact on youth.
Comer, J. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2007) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2007.00078.x · Cited by 158
The Role of Verbal Threat Information in the Development of Childhood Fear. “Beware the Jabberwock!”
Muris, P., & Field, A. P. (2010) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-010-0064-1 · Cited by 146
Adolescent dental fear and control: prevalence and theoretical implications.
Milgrom, P., Vignehsa, H., & Weinstein, P. (1992) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(92)90048-l · Cited by 154
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H. L. G. J., Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Bogie, N. (2001) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00155-2 · Cited by 140
“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.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationEtiology of childhood phobias: current status of Rachman’s three pathways theory
King, N. J., Eleonora, G., & Ollendick, T. H. (1998) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00015-1 · Cited by 136
Self-citationA model of pain and anxiety associated with acute stressors: Distress in dental procedures
Litt, M. D. (1996) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(96)00015-0 · Cited by 130
Common childhood fears and their origins
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., & Collaris, R. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)00050-8 · Cited by 126
“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.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialIntegral Bias in Naming of Phobia-related Words
Martin, M., Horder, P., & Jones, G. V. (1992) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699939208409700 · Cited by 123
The etiology of childhood water phobia
Menzies, R. G., & Clarke, J. (1993) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(93)90131-d · Cited by 117
The Origins of Specific Phobias: Influential Theories and Current Perspectives
Coelho, C. M., & Purkis, H. M. (2009) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0017759 · Cited by 118
“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).”
BackgroundEvidence for retarded extinction of aversive learning in anxious children
Liberman, L. C., Lipp, O. V., Spence, S. H., & March, S. (2005) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2005.11.004 · Cited by 108
The Fear Survey Schedule for Children—II: A psychometric investigation with American data
Burnham, J. J., & Gullone, E. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00089-7 · Cited by 108
Field, A. P., Lawson, J., & Banerjee, R. (2008) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.117.1.214 · Cited by 104
“…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
Austin, A. A., & Chorpita, B. F. (2004) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3302_2 · Cited by 104
“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).”
BackgroundChildren and terrorism-related news: Training parents in coping and media literacy.
Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., Beidas, R. S., Weiner, C. L., & Kendall, P. C. (2008) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.76.4.568 · Cited by 103
Treadwell, K. R. H., Flannery-Schroeder, E. C., & Kendall, P. C. (1995) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/0887-6185(95)00018-j · Cited by 103
Fear of the beast: a prospective study on the effects of negative information on childhood fear
Muris, P., Bodden, D. H. M., Merckelbach, H. L. G. J., Ollendick, T. H., & King, N. J. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00137-1 · Cited by 97
“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.”
BackgroundSelf-citationWatch Out for the Beast: Fear Information and Attentional Bias in Children
Field, A. P. (2006) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3503_8 · Cited by 94
“…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).”
BackgroundCho, Y., & Lee, D. (2017) · Environmental Education Research · doi:10.1080/13504622.2017.1279277 · Cited by 93
“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).”
BackgroundAcquisition of blood, injury, and needle fears and phobias
Kleinknecht, R. A. (1994) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)90161-9 · Cited by 84
Fear in infancy: Lessons from snakes, spiders, heights, and strangers.
LoBue, V., & Adolph, K. E. (2019) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/dev0000675 · Cited by 93
“…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…”
BackgroundMöller, E. L., Majdandžić, M., de Vente, W., & Bögels, S. M. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.5127/jep.026912 · Cited by 91
“It is important to note that the three pathways of fear are not independent, but interactive (Ollendick & King, 1991).”
BackgroundGrillon, C. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.04.017 · Cited by 80
Dubi, K., Rapee, R. M., Emerton, J. L., & Schniering, C. A. (2007) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-007-9195-3 · Cited by 91
“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).”
BackgroundCannon, M. F., & Weems, C. F. (2010) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.05.008 · Cited by 83
“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).”
BackgroundThe interaction of pathways to fear in childhood anxiety: A preliminary study
Field, A. P., & Storksen-Coulson, H. (2007) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.09.001 · Cited by 72
Genetic contributions to anxiety disorders: where we are and where we are heading
Ask, H., Cheesman, R., Jami, E. S., Levey, D. F., Purves, K. L., & Weber, H. (2021) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291720005486 · Cited by 77
“…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).”
BackgroundThe verbal information pathway to fear and heart rate changes in children
Field, A. P., & Schorah, H. (2007) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01772.x · Cited by 69
Milgrom, P., Jie, Z., Yang, Z., & Tay, K. (1994) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)90094-9 · Cited by 68
Neumann, D. L. (2005) · Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/j.lmot.2005.06.004 · Cited by 66
“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).”
BackgroundEvaluating and Approaching a Strange Animal: Children's Trust in Informant Testimony
Boseovski, J. J., & Thurman, S. L. (2014) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12156 · Cited by 61
Inhibition of fear acquisition in toddlers following positive modelling by their mothers
Egliston, K.-A., & Rapee, R. M. (2007) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.02.007 · Cited by 61
“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
Treatment of childhood anxiety
Barrett, P. M. (2000) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(99)00038-0 · Cited by 87
“Spence (1994) states that part of children’s development is the acquisition of control over their fears.”
BackgroundVicarious learning and unlearning of fear in childhood via mother and stranger models.
Dunne, G., & Askew, C. (2013) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0032994 · Cited by 66
Ollendick, T., Langley, A. K., Jones, R. T., & Kephart, C. (2001) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines · doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00801 · Cited by 61
“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 55
“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…”
BackgroundSilverman, W. K., & Ginsburg, G. S. (1998) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-5905-4_9 · Cited by 54
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
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
“…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
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
Self-citationKing, N. J. (1997) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(97)00014-7 · Cited by 50
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
“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
“(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 45
“…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
Raes, A. K., Houwer, J. D., Schryver, M. D., Braß, M., & Kalisch, R. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084888 · Cited by 44
Oppenheimer, C. W., Ladouceur, C. D., Waller, J. M., Ryan, N. D., Allen, K. B., Sheeber, L., Forbes, E. E., Dahl, R. E., & Silk, J. S. (2016) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0125-5 · Cited by 42
“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
Perceptions of stressful life events in Northern Irish school children: a longitudinal study.
Muldoon, O. (2003) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines · doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00113 · Cited by 48
Retrospective studies of the origins of phobias: A review
Menzies, R. G., & Clarke, J. (1994) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615809408249354 · Cited by 42
Impact of the threat of war on children in military families.
Ryan‐Wenger, N. A. (2001) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/0002-9432.71.2.236 · Cited by 41
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
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
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
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
“…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
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
Self-citationSchool-age children's fears, anxiety, and human figure drawings
Carroll, M. K., & Ryan‐Wenger, N. A. (1999) · Journal of Pediatric Health Care · doi:10.1016/s0891-5245(99)90097-4 · Cited by 32
Generalization of socially transmitted and instructed avoidance
Cameron, G., Schlund, M. W., & Dymond, S. (2015) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00159 · Cited by 29
“, 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
“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 32
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
“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
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
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
LoBue, V., Kim, E., & Delgado, M. R. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17332-6_11 · Cited by 25
Fliek, L., Dibbets, P., Roelofs, J., & Muris, P. (2016) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-016-0655-2 · Cited by 25
“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. R., White, S., & Ollendick, T. H. (2019) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s40489-019-00159-w · Cited by 23
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
“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
Davis, T. E. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09530-1_7 · Cited by 23
Metadata
- 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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