The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys
Open accessAbstract
Background: Although specific phobia is highly prevalent, associated with impairment, and an important risk factor for the development of other mental disorders, cross-national epidemiological data are scarce, especially from low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents epidemiological data from 22 low-, lower-middle-, upper-middle- and high-income countries. Method: Data came from 25 representative population-based surveys conducted in 22 countries (2001–2011) as part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys initiative (n = 124 902). The presence of specific phobia as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition was evaluated using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: The cross-national lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of specific phobia were, respectively, 7.4% and 5.5%, being higher in females (9.8 and 7.7%) than in males (4.9% and 3.3%) and higher in high- and higher-middle-income countries than in low-/lower-middle-income countries. The median age of onset was young (8 years). Of the 12-month patients, 18.7% reported severe role impairment (13.3–21.9% across income groups) and 23.1% reported any treatment (9.6–30.1% across income groups). Lifetime co-morbidity was observed in 60.5% of those with lifetime specific phobia, with the onset of specific phobia preceding the other disorder in most cases (72.6%). Interestingly, rates of impairment, treatment use and co-morbidity increased with the number of fear subtypes. Conclusions: Specific phobia is common and associated with impairment in a considerable percentage of cases. Importantly, specific phobia often precedes the onset of other mental disorders, making it a possible early-life indicator of psychopathology vulnerability.
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Most patients with specific phobias, including AP, do not seek treatment for this condition.
“However, most patients with specific phobias, including AP, do not seek treatment for this condition [9], possibly owing to fears about what treatment will involve [10].”
From Virtual reality exposure therapy for fear of spiders: an open trial and feasibility study of a new treatment for arachnophobia (2024) · cites this paper as [9]
Patient characteristics match many of the typical BII phobia demographic criteria, but severity was very high and combined with probable panic-triggered PNES.
“Second, though patient characteristics match many of the typical BII phobia demographic criteria (10, 12, 29, 32), severity was very high and combined with probable panic-triggered PNES.”
From Combined Fainting and Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures as Significant Therapy Hurdles in Blood-Injury-Injection Phobia: A Mini-Review and Case Report (2022) · cites this paper as [12]
There is a need for well-established evidence-based treatments for FP.
“Compared to other specific phobias, FP presents the highest rates of treatment-seeking (Wardenaar et al., 2017), which makes it clear that there is a need for well-established evidence-based treatments for this problem.”
From An Internet-based treatment for Flying Phobia using 360° images: Study protocol for a feasibility pilot study (2021) · cites this paper as Wardenaar et al., 2017
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“Prospective work has shown that specific phobia is associated with a higher odds of later depressive, anxiety and eating disorders (Goodwin, 2002; Bittner et al. 2004; Trumpf et al. 2010; Lieb et al. 2016) but not of later substance use disorders (Zimmermann et al. 2003).”
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“Treatment for specific phobia was threefold higher in high-income countries than in low-/lower-middleincome countries, which could be due to differences in the availability of care and financial resources (Saxena et al. 2007; McBain et al. 2012), the perceived need for treatment (Andrade et al.”
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“…with lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates in representative population surveys ranging from 7.7 to 12.5% and from 2.0 to 8.8%, respectively (Kessler et al. 1994, 2005; Bijl et al. 1998; Alonso et al. 2004; Wells et al. 2006; Stinson et al. 2007; Grenier et al. 2011; de Graaf et al. 2012).”
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“…of care and financial resources (Saxena et al. 2007; McBain et al. 2012), the perceived need for treatment (Andrade et al. 2014), knowledge Specific phobia in the World Mental Health surveys 1755 about mental healthcare (Palazzo et al. 2014) and prejudices (Clement et al. 2015; Semrau et al. 2015).”
Introduction to the Special Issue: Anxiety Disorders in Cross‐Cultural Perspective
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“This could be due to cultural differences in the degree to which symptoms of specific phobia are recognized or attributed to a mental disorder and differences in catastrophic cognitions about phobic/anxious symptoms (Hinton & Pollack, 2009; Marques et al. 2011; Hofmann & Hinton, 2014).”
BackgroundNINE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF SPECIFIC PHOBIA IN A POPULATION SAMPLE OF OLDER PEOPLE
Sigström, R., Skoog, I. G., Karlsson, B., Nilsson, J., & Östling, S. (2015) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.22459 · Cited by 9 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Young age was also observed to be associated with specific phobia, aligning with previous work (Stinson et al. 2007; Sigström et al. 2016).”
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Penninx, B. W., Pine, D. S., Holmes, E. A., & Reif, A. (2021) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(21)00359-7 · Cited by 740 · see citing works
Arpacı, İ., Karataş, K., & Балоглу, М. (2020) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.110108 · Cited by 414 · see citing works
“Research indicates that specific phobias are the most frequently observed psychiatric disorders worldwide (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015; Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
Wechsler, T. F., Kümpers, F., & Mühlberger, A. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01758 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Eaton, W. W., Bienvenu, O. J., & Miloyan, B. (2018) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30169-x · Cited by 203 · see citing works
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Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Freeman, D., Lambe, S., Yu, L.-M., Freeman, J., Chadwick, A., Vaccari, C., Waite, F., Rosebrock, L., Petit, A., Vanderslott, S., et al. (2023) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291721002609 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
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Sex differences in fear extinction
Velasco, E. R., Florido, A., Milad, M. R., & Andero, R. (2019) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.020 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
“Women are double the risk for panic attacks, specific and social phobias compared to men, and PTSD can reach three times the prevalence in women (de Jonge et al., 2016; Gradus et al., 2017; Steel et al., 2014; Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundAltwaijri, Y. A., Al‐Subaie, A. S., Alhabeeb, A. A., Bilal, L., Al‐Desouki, M., Aradati, M., King, A. J., Sampson, N. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2020) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.1836 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
“It is noteworthy, though, that the SNMHS did not assess specific phobia, which is the most common anxiety disorder in virtually all WMH surveys (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundSelf-citationA shared neural basis underlying psychiatric comorbidity
Xie, C., Xiang, S., Shen, C., Peng, X.-R., Kang, J., Li, Y., Cheng, W., He, S., Bobou, M., Broulidakis, J., et al. (2023) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-023-02317-4 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
“69,70 , we excluded this diagnostic information in the clinical relevance analysis.”
Twelve‐month prevalence and severity of mental disorders in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey
Altwaijri, Y. A., Alhabeeb, A. A., Al‐Subaie, A. S., Bilal, L., Al‐Desouki, M., Shahab, M. K., Hyder, S., Sampson, N. A., King, A. J., & Kessler, R. C. (2020) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.1831 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
“And this was despite the SNMHS not assessing specific phobia, which is the most common anxiety disorder in virtually all WMH surveys (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundSelf-citationIhmig, F. R., Gogeascoechea, A., Neurohr, F., Schäfer, S. K., Lass‐Hennemann, J., & Michael, T. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0231517 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
“4% of the population meets the criteria of a specific phobia at least once in their lifetime [1].”
BackgroundRim, S. J., Hahm, B., Seong, S. J., Park, J. E., Chang, S. M., Kim, B., An, H., Jeon, H. J., Hong, J. P., & Park, S. (2023) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2022.0307 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Hudson, D. M., Heales, C. J., & Meertens, R. M. (2022) · Radiography · doi:10.1016/j.radi.2022.02.010 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Lindner, P., Miloff, A., Bergman, C., Andersson, G., Hamilton, W., & Carlbring, P. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00116 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
“While speci fi c phobias are some of the most prevalent mental disorders, with a lifetime prevalence estimate of 7.4% (19), sub-syndromal fears are much more common (20).”
BackgroundInfluentialKılıç, A., Brown, A., Aras, I., Hui, R., Hare, J., Hughes, L. D., & McCracken, L. M. (2021) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kaab016 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Miller, R. E., & Kirschbaum, C. (2018) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.12.236 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Short versions of two specific phobia measures: The snake and the spider questionnaires
Zsido, A. N., Arató, N., Inhóf, O., Janszky, J., & Darnai, G. (2017) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.12.002 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) survey (Wardenaar et al., 2017) of the lifetime prevalence of specific phobias in 22 countries found that rates range from 2.6% to as high as 12.5%, with a crossnational average prevalence of 7.4%.”
BackgroundInfluentialMaskey, M., Rodgers, J., Ingham, B., Freeston, M., Evans, G., Labus, M., & Parr, J. R. (2019) · Autism in Adulthood · doi:10.1089/aut.2018.0019 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Diagnosis and Management of Anxiety Disorders
Giacobbe, P., & Flint, A. J. (2018) · CONTINUUM Lifelong Learning in Neurology · doi:10.1212/con.0000000000000607 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Álvarez‐Pérez, Y., Rivero, F., Herrero, M., Viña, C. M., Fumero, A., Betancort, M., & Castro, W. P. (2021) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm10163505 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Ecosystem services provided by spiders
Cardoso, P., Pekár, S., Birkhofer, K., Chuang, A., Fukushima, C. S., Hebets, E. A., Hénaut, Y., Hesselberg, T., Malumbres‐Olarte, J., Michálek, O., et al. (2025) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.70044 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“The widespread mental health impact of speci fi c phobias was demonstrated in a study (Wardenaar et al ., 2017) covering 22 countries which found a 12-month prevalence of speci fi c phobias ranging from 2.6 to 12.5% (average 7.4%), with 18.7% of subjects reporting several impairments.”
InfluentialTips for effective implementation of virtual reality exposure therapy in phobias-A systematic review
Krzystanek, M., Surma, S., Stokrocka, M., Romańczyk, M., Przybyło, J., Krzystanek, N., & Borkowski, M. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.737351 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Li, W.-Q., Chen, R., Feng, L.-P., Dang, X.-L., Liu, J.-W., Chen, T., Yang, J.-F., Su, X., Lv, L., Li, T., et al. (2023) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01746-y · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“Fine-mapping and functional genomic analysis of the CTNND1 locus prioritized potential causal variants, including rs685149, rs641325, rs674094, rs7936998 and rs12146541 (Supplementary Tables 23–25).”
Nature relatedness: A protective factor for snake and spider fears and phobias
Zsido, A. N., Coelho, C. M., & Polák, J. (2022) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10303 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Edwards, G., Jones, C. A., Pearson, E., Royston, R., Oliver, C., Tarver, J., Crawford, H., Shelley, L., & Waite, J. (2022) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104719 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Jiang, M. Y. W., Upton, E., & Newby, J. M. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.076 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
The searchscape of fear: A global analysis of internet search trends for biophobias
Correia, R. A., & Mammola, S. (2023) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10497 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Functioning mediates help-seeking for mental problems in the general population
Michel, C., Schnyder, N., Schmidt, S. J., Groth, N., SCHIMMELMANN, B. G., & Schultze‐Lutter, F. (2018) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.06.009 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Montero-Marin, J., Garcia-Campayo, J., López-Montoyo, A., Zabaleta-del-Olmo, E., & Cuijpers, P. (2018) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291717003099 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Collaborators, O. B. O. T. W. W. M. H. S., de Vries, Y. A., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Borges, G. L. G., Bruffaerts, R., Bunting, B., Caldas‐de‐Almeida, J. M., Cia, A. H., de Girolamo, G., et al. (2019) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1328-3 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationOdgers, K., Kershaw, K. A., Li, S. H., & Graham, B. M. (2022) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104203 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Rádlová, S., Polák, J., Janovcová, M., Sedláčková, K., Peléšková, Š., Landová, E., & Frynta, D. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00031 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“…al., 2011), while their reaction time to detect a target stimulus or a change in a scene is longer when a snake picture is present as a distractor (Lipp and Waters, 2007; McGlynn et al., 2008; see also Waters and Lipp, 2008; Waters et al., 2011, for a comparison of both reaction time procedures).”
BackgroundLeehr, E. J., Roesmann, K., Böhnlein, J., Dannlowski, U., Gathmann, B., Herrmann, M. J., Junghöfer, M., Schwarzmeier, H., Seeger, F. R., Siminski, N., et al. (2021) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102448 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Radiographer Perspectives on current occurrence and management of claustrophobia in MRI
Hudson, D. M., Heales, C. J., & Vine, S. J. (2021) · Radiography · doi:10.1016/j.radi.2021.09.008 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Recent developments in the intervention of specific phobia among adults: a rapid review
Thng, C., Lim-Ashworth, N., Poh, B., & Lim, C. G. (2020) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.20082.1 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Self-citationMayer, G., Gronewold, N., Polte, K., Hummel, S., Barniske, J., Korbel, J. J., Zarnekow, R., & Schultz, J.-H. (2022) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/40056 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“Specific phobias are associated with impairment and show high comorbidity with other mental health disorders [32].”
BackgroundoVRcome – Self-guided virtual reality for specific phobias: A randomised controlled trial
Lacey, C. J., Frampton, C. M., & Beaglehole, B. (2022) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/00048674221110779 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“Specific phobias, such as intense fear of flying, heights or spiders, are common with a cross-national lifetime prevalence of 7.45% in World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys and precedes onset of other mental disorders (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBiophobia: What it is, how it works and why it matters
Soga, M., & Evans, M. J. (2024) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10647 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
The Symbiosis of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and Telemental Health: A Review
Ong, T., Wilczewski, H., Soni, H., Nisbet, Q., Paige, S. R., Barrera, J. F., Welch, B. M., & Bunnell, B. E. (2022) · Frontiers in Virtual Reality · doi:10.3389/frvir.2022.848066 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Unfortunately, as few as 10% of people with phobias seek professional care, less than half of whom receive successful treatment (Wardenaar et al., 2017; de Vries et al., 2021).”
Sancassiani, F., Romano, F., Balestrieri, M., Caraci, F., Di Sciascio, G., Drago, F., Hardoy, M. C., Moro, M. F., Roncone, R., Piras, M., et al. (2019) · Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health · doi:10.2174/1745017901915010030 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Respiratory Markers Significantly Enhance Anxiety Detection Using Multimodal Physiological Sensing
Gazi, A. H., Lis, P., Mohseni, A., Ompi, C., Giuste, F., Shi, W., Inan, O. T., & Wang, M. D. (2021) · IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI ...) · doi:10.1109/bhi50953.2021.9508589 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Mertens, G., Wagensveld, P., & Engelhard, I. M. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.10.006 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
A clinical staging approach to improving diagnostics in anxiety disorders: Is it the way to go?
Bokma, W. A., Batelaan, N. M., Hoogendoorn, A. W., Penninx, B. W. J. H., & van Balkom, A. J. L. M. (2019) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867419887804 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Neuronal correlates of spider phobia in a combined fNIRS-EEG study
Rosenbaum, D., Leehr, E. J., Kroczek, A., Rubel, J. A., Int-Veen, I., Deutsch, K., Maier, M. J., Hudak, J., Fallgatter, A. J., & Ehlis, A. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-69127-3 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
(2022) · American Psychiatric Association Publishing eBooks · doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x05_anxiety_disorders · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Bos, E. H., ten Have, M., van Dorsselaer, S., Jeronimus, B. F., de Graaf, R., & de Jonge, P. (2018) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291717003798 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Depression has a median age of onset around 30 (Bromet et al. 2011), while some of the other disorders in the internalizing domain, such as specific phobia (age 8) or social phobia (age 14), have a considerably earlier onset (Lijster et al. 2017; Wardenaar et al. 2017).”
BackgroundFaster detection of snake and spider phobia: revisited
Polák, J., Sedláčková, K., Landová, E., & Frynta, D. (2020) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03968 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Glavonic, E., Mitić, M., & Adžić, M. (2022) · Journal of Neuroscience Research · doi:10.1002/jnr.25017 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
A novel genomic region on chromosome 11 associated with fearfulness in dogs
Sarviaho, R., Hakosalo, O., Tiira, K., Sulkama, S., Niskanen, J. E., Hytönen, M. K., Sillanpää, M. J., & Lohi, H. (2020) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-020-0849-z · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself: A Mechanistic Test of Unconscious Exposure
Siegel, P., Cohen, B., & Warren, R. (2022) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.08.022 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Kuleli, D., Tyson, P. J., Davies, N., & Zeng, B. (2025) · Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.jbct.2025.100524 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Jurcik, T., Zaremba-Pike, S., Kosonogov, V., Mohammed, A., Krasavtseva, Y. V., Sawada, T., Samarina, I., Шавкатовна, Б. Н., Adu, P., Sergeev, N., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1214125 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Watson, D. R., Garfinkel, S. N., van Praag, C. G., Willmott, D., Wong, K., Meeten, F., & Critchley, H. (2018) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000646 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Grimaldos, J., Duque, A., Palau-Batet, M., Pastor, M. C., Bretón-López, J. M., & Quero, S. (2021) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-021-01577-7 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Andersson, J., Hallin, J., Tingström, A., & Knutsson, J. (2024) · Nordic Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/08039488.2023.2279643 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“However, most patients with specific phobias, including AP, do not seek treatment for this condition [9], possibly owing to fears about what treatment will involve [10].”
BackgroundDo Spiders Ride on the Fear of Scorpions? A Cross-Cultural Eye Tracking Study
Rudolfová, V., Štolhoferová, I., Elmi, H. S. A., Rádlová, S., Rexová, K., Berti, D. A., Král, D., Sommer, D., Landová, E., Frýdlová, P., et al. (2022) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani12243466 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“[69], but all animal phobias were assessed and reported as one).”
Backgroundde Vries, Y. A., Harris, M., Vigo, D., Chiu, W. T., Sampson, N. A., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Andrade, L. H., Benjet, C. L., Bruffaerts, R., et al. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.001 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationWho worries about specific phobias? – A population-based study of risk factors
Coelho, C. M., Gonçalves, D. C., & Zsido, A. N. (2020) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.05.001 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Han, S.-S., Han, Y., Tong, W., Wang, G., Ke, Y., Meng, S., Guo, Q., Cui, Z.-L., Zhang, J.-Y., Ye, Y.-P., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1046326 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Globally, specific phobias are the most common psychiatric disorders (20, 21).”
BackgroundScheveneels, S., De Witte, N., & Van Daele, T. (2023) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102695 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Community aquatic therapy for Parkinson’s disease: an international qualitative study
Carroll, L. M., Morris, M. E., O'Connor, W. T., & Clifford, A. M. (2021) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2021.1906959 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Electrophysiological correlates of in vivo and virtual reality exposure therapy in spider phobia
Wiens, S., Eklund, R., Szychowska, M., Miloff, A., Cosme, D., Pierzchajlo, S., & Carlbring, P. (2022) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14117 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Domain Adaptation for Fear of Heights Classification in a VR Environment Based on EEG and ECG
Apicella, A., Arpaïa, P., Barbato, S., D’Errico, G., Mastrati, G., Moccaldi, N., Vallefuoco, E., & Wriessnegger, S. C. (2024) · Information Systems Frontiers · doi:10.1007/s10796-024-10484-z · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Ausín, B., Muñoz, M., Castellanos, M. Á., & García, S. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17061915 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“The restricted lifestyle resulting from fear and avoidance in specific phobia is likely to contribute to functional impairment [31].”
BackgroundInfluentialMor, S., Grimaldos, J., Tur, C., Miguel, C., Cuijpers, P., Botella, C., & Quero, S. (2021) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100462 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Wannemueller, A., Gruszka, P., Chwalek, S., Fröhlich, S., Mulders, M., Schaumburg, S., Schöttes, J., Wiederhold, S., & Margraf, J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02411 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
An exploration of the nomological network of trypophobia
Mayor, E., Meyer, A. H., Miani, A., & Lieb, R. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0257409 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Most individuals in this support group reported suffering from mild to severe psychological distress and impairment [14], which is higher than what was found in individuals with specific phobias [15].”
ResultLandová, E., Rádlová, S., Pidnebesna, A., Tomeček, D., Janovcová, M., Peléšková, Š., Sedláčková, K., Štolhoferová, I., Polák, J., Hlinka, J., et al. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1196785 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
A review of the phenomenology, aetiology and treatment of animal phobia and insights for biophobia
Norberg, M. M., Visvalingam, S., Stevenson, R., & Saluja, S. (2023) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10514 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Hilbert, K., Boeken, O., Langhammer, T., Groenewold, N., Bas-Hoogendam, J., Aghajani, M., Zugman, A., Åhs, F., Arolt, V., Beesdo-Baum, K., et al. (2024) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.20230032 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Three further preregistered analyses examined dimensional associations by using phobia severity, trait anxiety, and depression severity as variables of interest (hypotheses 3 and 4).”
Augmented reality exposure treatments in anxiety and related disorders: A systematic review
Grimaldos, J., Fernández-Buendía, S., Bretón-López, J., Miguel, C., Cuijpers, P., & Quero, S. (2025) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2025.100812 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“This result is consistent with the fact that specific phobias are one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders (Wardenaar et al., 2017), which may have driven greater research focus in this area compared to other anxiety disorders.”
Snakes vs. Guns: a Systematic Review of Comparisons Between Phylogenetic and Ontogenetic Threats
Shapouri, S., & Martin, L. L. (2021) · Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology · doi:10.1007/s40750-021-00181-5 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“While animals are not the most important threat to our survival in the modern world, animal phobia is the most prevalent subtype of specific phobias worldwide (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
Backgroundde Vries, Y. A., Bos, E. H., Roest, A. M., & de Jonge, P. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-42825-9_89-1 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Leuchter, M. K., Rosenberg, B. M., Schapira, G., Wong, N. R., Leuchter, A. F., McGlade, A. L., Krantz, D. E., Ginder, N. D., Lee, J. C., Wilke, S. A., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.823158 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Investigating the Psychometric Properties of the Severity Measure for Specific Phobia
MacLeod, S., Schneider, L. H., & McCabe, R. E. (2022) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-022-09976-6 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“Importantly, it has been reported that over 60% of individuals with specific phobia will experience an additional mental health disorder over the course of their life, with the highest rates of comorbidity occurring with other mood and anxiety disorders (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundKiss, B. L., Birkás, B., Zilahi, L., & Zsido, A. N. (2022) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11839 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“BII phobia is among the most prevalent specific phobias with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 3% (Fredrikson et al., 1996; Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundMethodLee, J., Kim, H., Chang, S. M., Hong, J. P., Lee, D. W., Hahm, B., Cho, S., Park, J., Jeon, H. J., Seong, S. J., et al. (2021) · Journal of Korean Medical Science · doi:10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e240 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Wannemueller, A., Schaumburg, S., Tavenrath, S., Bellmann, A., Ebel, K., Teismann, T., Friedrich, S., & Margraf, J. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103735 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“though prevalence rates are smaller than those reported for other specific phobias (Wardenaar et al., 2017).”
BackgroundResultWannemueller, A., Fasbender, A., Kampmann, Z., Weiser, K., Schaumburg, S., Velten, J., & Margraf, J. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01534 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Moreover, considering the early onset of SPs, its high comorbidity and persistence (Wardenaar et al., 2017) as well as its common harmful consequences, such as more annual work loss days associated with SPs than chronic heart- or lung disease (Alonso et al.”
BackgroundThe role of self-efficacy in specific fears
Lipp, A., Zhang, X. C., Dere, E., & Zlomuzica, A. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0283660 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Behluli, E., Preuer, H. M., Schiefermeier-Mach, N., Hornung, R., Küchler, M., & Prokopetz, M. (2024) · Radiography · doi:10.1016/j.radi.2024.06.021 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Fear of clowns: An investigation into the prevalence of coulrophobia in an international sample
Tyson, P. J., Davies, S. K., Scorey, S., & Greville, W. J. (2022) · International Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/00207411.2022.2046925 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“%) as identified by Wardenaar et al. (2017).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialKılıç, C., Yıldız, M. İ., Emekli, E., Gülşen, G., & Alp, A. (2022) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2022.603 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Ribé-Viñes, J. M., Gutiérrez‐Maldonado, J., Zabolipour, Z., & Ferrer‐García, M. (2023) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101915 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
de Vries, Y. A., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Andrade, L. H., Benjet, C. L., Bruffaerts, R., Bunting, B., de Girolamo, G., Florescu, S., Gureje, O., et al. (2020) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291720004031 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The former may be related to the specific disorders present in childhood-onset v. adult-onset classes [e.g. specific phobia, a highly persistent disorder (Wardenaar et al., 2017) v .”
Self-citationThe Burden of Mental Disorders
Eaton, W. W., Bienvenu, O. J., Nestadt, G., Volk, H. E., & Anthony, J. C. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190916602.003.0002 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Interoception and Mental Health
Khalsa, S. S., & Verdonk, C. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-68521-7_9 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Jung, J. T. K., Marques, L. S., Brambila, C. A., Fulco, B. C. W., Nogueira, C. W., & Zeni, G. R. (2024) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111021 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Psychological effects of COVID-19 phobia on industrial consumers: a case study in Turkey
Değirmenci, B., Durmaz, Y., Fidanoğlu, A., & Değirmenci, S. (2022) · Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing · doi:10.1108/jbim-04-2021-0221 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Mohammadi-Farani, A., Farhangian, S., & Shirooie, S. (2022) · Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences · doi:10.4103/1735-5362.359435 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Knowing that PTSD is about three times more prevalent in women than men (17) and considering the role of the amygdalar cholinergic system in controlling the extinction process, we hypothesize that gender variation in amygdalar cholinergic regulation plays a role in the different sexual prevalence of the disease.”
BackgroundPhobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies
Zsido, A. N., Láng, A., Lábadi, B., & Deák, A. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33395-6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys – CORRIGENDUM
Wardenaar, K. J., Lim, C. C. W., Al-Hamzawi, A. O., & Alonso, J. (2017) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291717002975 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationCole, G. G. (2024) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.621 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“For example, in a worldwide sample of over 7000 participants with specific phobia, Wardenaar et al 19 found that only 10.3% scored at least seven ( ‘ severe impairment ’ ) on the work subscale of the SDS.”
BackgroundInfluentialMohlman, J., Lauderdale, S. A., & Wuthrich, V. M. (2019) · Clinical Gerontologist · doi:10.1080/07317115.2019.1571554 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“More recently, epidemiological data from across 22 countries found that lower education and income were associated with increased risk for specific phobias (Wardenaar et al., 2017), while others have shown that lower education specifically predicts Blood-Injury-Injection (B-I-I) Specific Phobia (Bienvenu & Eaton, 1998…”
BackgroundInfluentialFumero, A., Marrero, R. J., Rivero, F., Álvarez‐Pérez, Y., Pérez, J. M. B., Rodríguez, M. G., & Castro, W. P. (2021) · Life · doi:10.3390/life11040275 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Females show higher specific phobia lifetime prevalence compared to males [43].”
BackgroundRaeder, F., Merz, C. J., Tegenthoff, M., Dere, E., Wolf, O. T., Margraf, J., Schneider, S., & Zlomuzica, A. (2023) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-023-06345-3 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Zsido, A. N., Inhóf, O., Kiss, B. L., Bali, C., & March, D. S. (2023) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10500 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Coronaphobia in patients with fibromyalgia
Külekçioğlu, S., AKYÜZ, M. Ö., İnan, Ö., & Çetin, A. (2021) · Archives of Rheumatology · doi:10.46497/archrheumatol.2022.8664 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
An internet-based treatment for flying phobia using 360° images: A feasibility pilot study
Mor, S., Botella, C., Campos, D., Carlbring, P., Tur, C., & Quero, S. (2022) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2022.100510 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wardenaar, K. J., Lim, C. C. W., Al-Hamzawi, A. O., Alonso, J., Andrade, L. H., Benjet, C., Bunting, B., de Girolamo, G., Demyttenaere, K., Florescu, S. E., Gureje, O., Hisateru, T., Hu, C., Huang, Y., Karam, E., Kiejna, A., Lepine, J. P., Navarro-Mateu, F., Oakley Browne, M., Piazza, M., Posada-Villa, J., ten Have, M. L., Torres, Y., Xavier, M., Zarkov, Z., Kessler, R. C., Scott, K. M., & de Jonge, P.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- University of Al-Qadisiyah (IQ)
- Hospital Del Mar (ES)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (MX)
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven (BE)
- National School of Public Health, Management and Professional Development (RO)
- University of Ibadan (NG)
- National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (JP)
- Shenzhen KangNing Hospital (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- University of Balamand (LB)
- Wroclaw Medical University (PL)
- Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (PE)
- Universidad El Bosque (CO)
- Universidad CES (CO)
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT)
- National Center of Public Health and Analyses (BG)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wardenaar, K. J.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2017-02-22
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1744-1760
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- PMC
- PMC5674525
- OpenAlex
- W2590938221
- Cited by
- 227
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 17.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r13mh066849-04, 5r01mh069864-04, 5r01mh070884-05)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R13-MH-066849, R01‐MH070884, R01MH061905, R01MH059575, U01MH060220, R01‐MH069864)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K05DA015799, R01DA016558)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM061905)
- Fogarty International Center (R03TW006481)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- specific phobia, prevalence, cross-national comparison, income level, sex differences, age of onset, role impairment, treatment utilization, comorbidities, vulnerability to psychopathology, low- and middle-income countries
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Employment, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Phobic Disorders, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Global Health, World Health Organization, Comorbidity, Prevalence, Age of Onset, Young Adult
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