The DOI matches its Crossref record; 18 of the 18 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
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
Cites
The conditioning theory of fearacquisition: A critical examination
Rachman, S. (1977) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(77)90041-9 · Cited by 1,191
Reliability and validity of the revised fear survey schedule for children (FSSC-R)
Ollendick, T. H. (1983) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(83)90087-6 · Cited by 1,013
Self-citationMarks, I. M. (1987) · Cited by 978
Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Frary, R. B. (1989) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(89)90115-0 · Cited by 372
Self-citationAcquisition of phobias and anxiety response patterns in clinical patients
Öst, L., & Hugdahl, K. (1981) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(81)90134-0 · Cited by 294
Fears in children and adolescents: normative data
Ollendick, T. H., Matson, J. L., & Helsel, W. J. (1985) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(85)90174-3 · Cited by 241
Self-citationThe passing of the two-stage theory of fear and avoidance: Fresh possibilities
Rachman, S. (1976) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(76)90066-8 · Cited by 214
Fears in British Children and Their Relationship to Manifest Anxiety and Depression
Ollendick, T. H., Yule, W., & Oilier, K. (1991) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb00310.x · Cited by 182
Self-citationChildren's phobias: a behavioural perspective
(1988) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.26-2402 · Cited by 154
The etiology and maintenance of severe animal phobias
McNally, R. J., & Steketee, G. S. (1985) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(85)90171-8 · Cited by 153
King, N. J., Ollier, K., Iacuone, R., Schuster, S., Bays, K., Gullone, E., & Ollendick, T. H. (1989) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00789.x · Cited by 150
Self-citationTreating children's fears and phobias : a behavioral approach
Morris, R. J., & Kratochwill, T. R. (1983) · Pergamon Press eBooks · Cited by 143
Child behavioral assessment: Principles and procedures
Haynes, S. N. (1986) · Journal of School Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-4405(86)90014-2 · Cited by 118
Fear Reduction Techniques with Children
Ollendick, T. H. (1979) · Progress in behavior modification · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-535608-4.50008-7 · Cited by 115
Self-citationMurray, E. J., & Foote, F. (1979) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(79)90065-2 · Cited by 92
An exploratory investigation of the origin and maintenance of phobias
Rimm, D. C., Janda, L. H., Lancaster, D. W., Nahl, M., & Dittmar, K. (1977) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(77)90020-1 · Cited by 82
Ways of acquiring phobias and outcome of behavioral treatments
Öst, L.-G. (1985) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(85)90066-x · Cited by 76
Origins and development of human fear reactions
Hekmat, H. M. (1987) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/0887-6185(87)90026-0 · Cited by 34
Cited by
Sorted by citations
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 .”
Gerull, F. C., & Rapee, R. M. (2002) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00013-4 · Cited by 352
“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).”
BackgroundInfluential
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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