The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Common childhood fears and their origins
Abstract
The present study examined rank orders and characteristics of childhood fears. A 'free option' approach ('What do you fear most?') deviated markedly from the fear rank order based on the Fear Survey Schedule for Children. A second aim of the study was to investigate the origins of prevalent childhood fears. In contrast to the results of Ollendick and King (1991, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29, 117-123), conditioning was found to be the most commonly reported pathway related to exacerbation and onset of fears. Finally, special attention was given to the top intense fear in children, namely fear of spiders. Children who reported 'none', 'some' or 'a lot' of spider fear were compared with each other in terms of pathways. No differences between the three groups were found with respect to the frequency of modeling and information experiences. However, high fearful children more often reported conditioning experiences than low or moderate fearful children.
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“increasing evidence suggests that the Pathways to Fear Survey (Doogan & Thomas, 1992; King et al., 1997; Muris et al., 1997; Ollendick & King, 1991) is a valuable tool in examining the origins of children ' s fears”
From Specific Phobia in Young Children: Associations between the Origins of Fear and Clinical Expression of Phobia Symptoms. (2025) · cites this paper as Muris et al., 1997
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 · cited 2×
“That study evaluated to what extent Rachman's ( Rachman, 1977, 1991 ) theory of fear acquisition can be applied to the ten most common FSSC-R fears.”
BackgroundReliability 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
The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children
SILVERMAN, W. K., & NELLES, W. B. (1988) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-198811000-00019 · Cited by 688
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
Neo-conditioning and the classical theory of fear acquisition
Rachman, S. (1991) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(91)90093-a · Cited by 256
Origins 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
Self-citationOrigins of childhood fears: An evaluation of Rachman's theory of fear acquisition
Ollendick, T. H., & King, N. J. (1991) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(91)90039-6 · Cited by 220 · cited 5×
“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.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialThe etiology of phobias: A nonassociative account
Menzies, R. G., & Clarke, J. C. (1995) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(94)00039-5 · Cited by 207
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
The 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
Self-citationAge, gender and patterns of common intense fears among adults
Klrkpatrick, D. R. (1984) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(84)90102-5 · Cited by 107
What is the revised fear survey schedule for children measuring?
McCathie, H., & Spence, S. H. (1991) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(91)90134-o · Cited by 103
Fears and their level of interference in adolescents
Ollendick, T. H., & King, N. J. (1994) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)90018-3 · Cited by 83
Pathways 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 · cited 3×
“This conclusion is, of course, difficult to reconcile with the non-associative view of intense fears and phobias (Menzies & Clarke, 1995; see, for a more elaborated critique of the non-associative account, Merckelbach, De Jong, Muris & Van den Hout, 1996 ).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationThe 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 · cited 1×
“Milgrom, Mancl, King & Weinstein, 1995; King, Clowes-Hollins & Ollendick, 1997 ).”
What do children fear most often?
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H. L. G. J., Meesters, C. M. G., & van Lier, P. A. C. (1997) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0005-7916(97)00024-4 · Cited by 46
Self-citationRetrospective studies of the origins of phobias: A review
Menzies, R. G., & Clarke, J. (1994) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615809408249354 · Cited by 42
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
Kheriaty, E., Kleinknecht, R. A., & Hyman, I. E. (1999) · Behavior Modification · doi:10.1177/0145445599231003 · Cited by 16
Menzies, R. G. (1996) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/0887-6185(96)00015-1 · Cited by 11
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Anxiety Disorders During Childhood and Adolescence: Origins and Treatment
Rapee, R. M., Schniering, C. A., & Hudson, J. L. (2009) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.032408.153628 · Cited by 821
The development of normal fear
Gullone, E. (2000) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(99)00034-3 · Cited by 460
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H. L. G. J., Gadet, B., & Moulaert, V. (2000) · Journal of Clinical Child Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2901_5 · Cited by 312
“In a more recent study, Muris, Merckelbach, and Collaris (1997) sought to replicate these findings.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationHow serious are common childhood fears?
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., Mayer, B., & Prins, E. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00204-6 · Cited by 195
“It is worthy of note that the fear rank order obtained by the free option method was highly similar to that found in other studies employing this method (Muris et al., 1997, 1998).”
ResultSelf-citationField, A. P., Argyris, N. G., & Knowles, K. A. (2001) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(00)00080-2 · Cited by 188
“Muris et al. (1996), for example, found that trait anxiety in children was positively associated with trait anxiety of both the mother and father and that children of mothers who tended to express their fears often had the highest FSSC scores.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., & Collaris, R.
- Affiliations
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1997-10
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 929-937
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2128569660
- Cited by
- 126
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 6.84
- 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 › Clinical Psychology › Child Therapy and Development
- Keywords
- children's fears, conditioning, spider phobia, modeling, information acquisition, children
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Animals, Child, Conditioning, Psychological, Fear, Female, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Personality Assessment, Personality Development, Spiders
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