Mother knows best: effects of maternal modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance behaviour in toddlers
Abstract
The present study was conducted to investigate the influence of parental modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance towards novel, fear-relevant stimuli in a sample of 30 toddlers. The toddlers were shown a rubber snake and spider, which were alternately paired with either negative or positive facial expressions by their mothers. Both stimuli were presented again after a 1- and a 10-min delay, while mothers maintained a neutral expression. The children showed greater fear expressions and avoidance of the stimuli following negative reactions from their mothers. This was true for both genders although the degree of modelled avoidance was greater in girls than in boys. The strong observational learning results are consistent with views that modelling constitutes a mechanism by which fear may be acquired early in life.
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Positive maternal modelling decreases children's fear beliefs.
“In contrast, positive maternal modelling decreases children ' s fear beliefs (Broeren et al., 2011; Egliston & Rapee, 2007; Gerull & Rapee, 2002; Kelly et al., 2010).”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Gerull & Rapee, 2002
Toddlers have demonstrated increased fear and avoidance when playing with a toy snake after observing their mother modelling negative interactions with the toy.
“Similar effects have been found with the modelling pathway, in which toddlers have demonstrated increased fear and avoidance when playing with a toy snake, after observing their mother modelling negative interactions with the toy (Gerull & Rapee, 2002).”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Gerull & Rapee, 2002
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Coping With the Effects of Fear of Failure: A Preliminary Investigation of Young Elite Athletes
Sagar, S. S., Lavallee, D. E., & Spray, C. M. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology · doi:10.1123/jcsp.3.1.73 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
“Fears are adaptive aspect of development that warn one of dangers and motivate escape or avoidance behavior (Barlow, 2002; Field & Lawson, 2003; Gerull & Rapee, 2002; Gullone, 1999).”
The correlates and consequences of early appearing social anxiety in young children
Weeks, M., Coplan, R. J., & Kingsbury, A. (2009) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.06.006 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Aktar, E., Nikolić, M., & Bögels, S. M. (2017) · Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.31887/dcns.2017.19.2/eaktar · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
Craske, M. G., & Simos, G. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118330043.ch1 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Fear in Infancy: Lessons From Snakes, Spiders, Heights, and Strangers
Lobue, V., & Adolph, K. (2019) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/dev0000675 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
“…facial expressions and avoidance behaviors in response to toy snakes, spiders, flowers, and mushrooms after observing mothers’ negative facial expressions (Dubi, Rapee, Emerton, & Schniering, 2008; Gerull & Rapee, 2002), suggesting that fear-like behaviors can be elicited via social learning.”
BackgroundMöller, E. L., Majdandžić, M., de Vente, W., & Bögels, S. M. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.5127/jep.026912 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
“For example, in the study of Gerull and Rapee (2002), 15 to 20 month old infants were shown a rubber snake and spider each paired with a negative or positive expression by their mothers.”
BackgroundAssessment of social transmission of threats in humans using observational fear conditioning
Haaker, J., Golkar, A., Selbing, I., & Olsson, A. (2017) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/nprot.2017.027 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Review of a Parent’s Influence on Pediatric Procedural Distress and Recovery
Brown, E. A., Young, A. D., Kimble, R. M., & Kenardy, J. A. (2018) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-017-0252-3 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
“Children as young as 10 months old have been found to assess unfamiliar people or situations through parental nonverbal fear modeling (Feinman 1992), and this information was retained over time (Gerull and Rapee 2002).”
BackgroundCreswell, C., Willetts, L., Murray, L., Singhal, M., & Cooper, P. (2008) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.559 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Barrington, J., Prior, M. R., Richardson, M., & Allen, K. S. (2005) · Behaviour Change · doi:10.1375/bech.22.1.29.66786 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
“They may also display cognitive biases towards threat and avoidance, which they model to their children in the form of expressions of disgust and avoidance behaviour (Barrett, Rapee, Dadds, & Ryan, 1996; Gerull & Rapee, 2002).”
BackgroundDubi, 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 77 · see citing works
“For example, Gerull and Rapee (2002) demonstrated that 17-month-old toddlers showed greater fear and avoidance towards a toy spider or snake following negative reactions from their mothers relative to those shown following positive reactions.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialSelf-citationCross-generational influences on childhood anxiety disorders: pathways and mechanisms
Lebowitz, E. R., Leckman, J., Silverman, W., & Feldman, R. (2016) · Journal of neural transmission · doi:10.1007/s00702-016-1565-y · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Other social referencing studies have demonstrated that parental expressions of fear can lead to infant fear or avoidance in response to toy snakes or spiders (Gerull and Rapee 2002) and strangers (de Rosnay et al. 2006).”
BackgroundOkita, S. Y. (2013) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0513 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Noel, M. E., Chambers, C. T., Petter, M., McGrath, P. J., Klein, R. M., & Stewart, S. H. (2012) · Pain Management · doi:10.2217/pmt.12.41 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
The 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 · see citing works
Creswell, C., Murray, L., Stacey, J., & Cooper, P. (2011) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511994920.015 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
“Gerull and Rapee (2002), for example, trained mothers to either express fear and disgust to potentially fear provoking toys or display neutral expressions, when in the presence of their toddler (15-20 months) offspring.”
InfluentialObservational Learning and Pain-Related Fear: An Experimental Study With Colored Cold Pressor Tasks
Helsen, K., Goubert, L., Peters, M. L., & Vlaeyen, J. W. S. (2011) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2011.07.002 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Linking Social Cognition to Learning and Memory
Leblanc, H., & Ramirez, S. (2020) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1280-20.2020 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
“For example, cued fear conditioning does not always require an intact hippocampus (Hornik et al., 1987; Gerull and Rapee, 2002; Jeon et al., 2010; E. J. Kim et al., 2010).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialChildrearing Style of Anxiety-Disordered Parents
Lindhout, I. E., Markus, M. T., Hoogendijk, T. H. G., BORST, S. R., Maingay, R., Spinhoven, P., van Dyck, R., & Boer, F. (2006) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-006-0022-9 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Murray, L., Pella, J. E., Pascalis, L. D., Arteche, A. X., Pass, L., Percy, R., Creswell, C., & Cooper, P. (2014) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579414001187 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
“Gerull and Rapee (2002) showed, for example, that experimentally elicited maternal expressions of fear and disgust led to 15-to 20-month-old infants’ increased avoidance of novel threatening stimuli (i.e., a rubber snake and spider), and we showed the same effect for infant avoidance of an…”
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 · see citing works
“In a recent study, Gerull and Rapee (2002) showed that mothers could promote anxious and avoidant reactions to novel stimuli in their 17-month-old toddlers through the contingent delivery of negative facial expressions.”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe Developmental Psychopathology of Worry
Kertz, S. J., & Woodruff‐Borden, J. (2011) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-011-0086-3 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Miu, A. C., Pană, S. E., & Avram, J. (2012) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2012.01.024 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“In addition, this type of associative emotional learning is apparent in toddlers, and is one of the cognitive mechanisms by which fear is acquired early in life (Gerull and Rapee, 2002).”
BackgroundMedia Use and Children's Perceptions of Societal Threat and Personal Vulnerability
Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., Beidas, R. S., Babyar, H. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2008) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374410802148145 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“…learning and verbal threat information in the acquisition of children’s anxious expectations, avoidant behavior, physiological arousal, long-term fear beliefs, and other anxious symptoms (e.g., Field & Lawson, 2003; Field & Schorah, 2007; Field & Storksen-Coulson, 2007; Gerull & Rapee, 2002).”
BackgroundHecht, E. E., Patterson, R., & Barbey, A. K. (2012) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00224 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“Human children who see their mothers responding positively to a fear-inducing stimulus are less fearful of the stimulus (Gerull and Rapee, 2002; Egliston and Rapee, 2007).”
BackgroundParental Perfectionism and Overcontrol: Examining Mechanisms in the Development of Child Anxiety
Affrunti, N. W., & Woodruff‐Borden, J. (2014) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-014-9914-5 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“For example, parent perfectionism may relate to higher amounts of overcontrol, while parent interpretation biases may relate to higher amounts of anxious modeling (Gerull and Rapee 2002; Lester et al. 2009).”
BackgroundRapee, R. M. (2009) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-009-9340-2 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“Some evidence has supported an association between anxious parenting and anxiety in middle childhood (Gruner et al. 1999 ;M uris et al.1996 ;W haley et al.1999 )a nd adulthood (Bruch et al. 1989; Rapee and Melville 1997), while some experimental work has demonstrated the ability for very young children to learn fears…”
BackgroundSelf-citationDissociable neural systems for unconditioned acute and sustained fear
Hudson, M., Seppälä, K., Putkinen, V., Sun, L., Glerean, E., Karjalainen, T., Karlsson, H. K., Hirvonen, J., & Nummenmaa, L. (2020) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116522 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Parent-to-Child Anxiety Transmission Through Dyadic Social Dynamics: A Dynamic Developmental Model
Perlman, S. B., Lunkenheimer, E. S., Panlilio, C. C., & Pérez‐Edgar, K. E. (2022) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-022-00391-7 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“Emotion modeling by parents spans a wide range of emotions, including anger (Dollar & Calkins, 2019), sadness (Denham & Kochanoff, 2002), fear (LoBue, Kim, & Delgado, 2019), disgust (Gerull & Rapee, 2002; Shutts et al., 2013), and happiness (Messinger et al., 2019).”
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 · see citing works
Bruysters, N. Y. F., & Pilkington, P. D. (2022) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.2776 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“Particularly, fathers are more likely to tease their children, play rough and encourage risk taking behaviours compared to mothers who adopt a more protective and nurturing perspective (Gerull & Rapee, 2002; Majdand ˇ zi (cid:2) c et al., 2016).”
Parent-Child Interactions and Adolescent Anxiety: A Systematic Review
Waite, P., Whittington, L., & Creswell, C. (2014) · Psychopathology Review · doi:10.5127/pr.033213 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
“Furthermore, experimental and prospective longitudinal research has shown that observing parents responding in an anxious manner leads to an increase in children's anxious responses (e.g. De Rosnay, Cooper, Tsigaras, & Murray, 2006; Gerull & Rapee, 2002).”
Olsson, A., Kopsida, E., Sorjonen, K., & Savic, I. (2016) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0039765 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Ahmadzadeh, Y. I., Schoeler, T., Han, M., Pingault, J., Creswell, C., & McAdams, T. A. (2021) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2020.12.037 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“For example, parents’ fear responses to a novel toy can predict offspring fear and avoidance behaviors.(28) Another experimental approach involves researchers treating parent or offspring symptoms and examining whether symptom improvements in one generation predict improvements in the other.”
BackgroundMartini, J., Asselmann, E., Einsle, F., Strehle, J., & Wittchen, H. (2016) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.04.007 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Family 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
“The importance of observational learning in the acquisition of fears in children has also been experimentally established (Gerull & Rapee, 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialWaters, A. M., Zimmer‐Gembeck, M. J., & Farrell, L. J. (2012) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.06.002 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Challacombe, F. L., & Salkovskis, P. M. (2009) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.04.002 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“There is some evidence of children learning anxious responding through parent’s modeling of their fears (de Rosnay, Cooper, Tsigaras, & Murray, 2006; Gerull & Rapee, 2002; Muris, Steerneman, Merckelbach, & Meesters, 1996).”
BackgroundParenting and Child Anxiety Disorders
McLeod, B. D., Wood, J. J., & Avny, S. B. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7784-7_15 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“However, contrary to previous findings in which fearful modeling effects persisted (Gerull & Rapee, 2002) or effects persisted for positive modeling (Egliston & Rapee, 2007), the effects of the conditioned fear response were short lived.”
Lester, K., Seal, K., Nightingale, Z. C., & Field, A. (2010) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.09.004 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Experimental modification of interpretation bias regarding social and animal fear in children.
Lester, K. J., Field, A. P., & Muris, P. (2011) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.03.006 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Social information reduces infants’ avoidance of plants
Włodarczyk, A., Rioux, C., & Wertz, A. E. (2020) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100867 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Influence of parental presence on the child’s perception of, and behaviour, during dental treatment
Cox, I. C. J., Krikken, J. B., & Veerkamp, J. S. J. (2011) · European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry · doi:10.1007/bf03262807 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Fox, J. K., Halpern, L. F., & Forsyth, J. P. (2008) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2008.00129.x · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Graham, R. A., & Weems, C. F. (2014) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-014-9945-y · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“In a study by Gerull and Rapee (2002), toddlers showed more behavioral avoidance to a fear relevant toy (i.e., a spider or snake) in which they witnessed their mother showing a negative face, and girls in the study generally responded with more fear than the boys.”
- Authors
- Gerull, F. C., & Rapee, R. M.
- Affiliations
- Macquarie University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Rapee, Ronald M
- ORCID
- Rapee, Ronald M
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2002-03
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 279-287
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1987916514
- Cited by
- 352
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 10.60
- 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 › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- fear acquisition, avoidance behavior, toddlers, observational learning, fear conditioning, gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Avoidance Learning, Psychology, Child, Facial Expression, Fear, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Mothers
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