the role of parental fearfulness and modeling in children's fear by peter muris, pim steerneman,...

8/13/2019 The role of parental fearfulness and modeling in children's fear by PETER MURIS, PIM STEERNEMAN, HARALD MERCKELBACH and COR MEESTERS (199

1/4


2/4

266 SHORTER COMMUNICATIONS

Ch i ld r en (FSSC: O l len d ick , 1 9 83 ). I n ad d i t io n , th e p a r en ts o f th e ch i ld r en w ere ask ed to co m p le te th e ad u l t v e r s io n o f th eFear Su rv ey Sch ed u le (FSS : A r r in d e l l , Emm elk am p & v an d er En d e , 1 98 4) an d to r a te to w h a t ex ten t th ey g en era l lyex p ressed f ea r s in th e p r esen ce o f th e i r ch i ld r en . Th e f i r s t p u rp o se o f th e s tu d y w as to ex amin e th e r e la t io n sh ip b e tw eenfea r fu ln ess o f ch i ld r en an d f ea r fu ln ess o f th e i r p a r en ts . Th e seco n d an d m o s t im p o r ta n t g o a l o f th e s tu d y w as to in v es t ig a tew h e th er p a r en ta l m o d e l in g co n t r ib u tes s ig n i f ican t ly to th e f ea r fu ln ess in ch i ld r en . I n o th e r w o rd s , a r e ch i ld r en o f p a r en tsw h o o f ten ex p ress th e i r f ear s mo re f ea r fu l th an ch i ld r en o f p a r en ts w h o n ev er o r so met im es ex p ress th e i r f ear s? S in ce iti s g en era l ly b e liev ed th a t f ea r fu ln ess i s mo d u la ted b y t r a i t an x ie ty ( e .g . Ey sen ck , 1 99 2) , i t w as d ec id ed to co n t ro l f o r th i sf ac to r b y o b ta in in g t r a i t an x ie ty sco res o f b o th ch i ld r en an d p ar en ts .

M E T H O D

Subjects

Su b jec t s w ere 4 0 ch i ld r en (2 5 b o y s an d 1 5 g i r l s ) w h o w ere r e f e r r ed to th e Co mmu n i ty Men ta l H ea l th Cen t r e , Eas te rnSo u th -L imb u rg in H eer len , Th e N e th er lan d s , b e tw een N o v emb er 1 9 9 4 an d Ju n e 1 9 9 5 . Ch i ld r en w ere in c lu d ed in th e s tu d yw h e n th ey met tw o c r i t e ria : ( 1 ) ag e b e tw een 9 an d 1 2 j r ; ( 2 ) b o th n a tu r a l p a r en ts h ad to b e p r esen t in th e ch i ld ' s f ami ly.Fo r ty - tw o ch i ld r en fu l f i l led th ese cr i t e r ia . H o w ev er, th e p a r en ts o f 2 ch i ld r en r e fu sed to p a r t ic ip a te l eav in g 4 0 Ss an d th e i rp a r en ts in th e f in a l s amp le .

Th e ch i ld r en h ad a mean ag e o f 1 0 .2 y r (SD = 1 .1 ), an d su ff e r ed f ro m d iv er se p sy ch o p a th o lo g ica l sy m p to m s . Th e D S M -IV(A m er ican Psy ch ia t r ic A sso c ia t io n , 1 99 4) c las s if ica t io n s o f th e ch i ld r en w ere : d i s ru p t iv e b eh av io u r d i so rd er n o t o th e rw isesp ec i fied (n = 1 3) , o p p o s i t io n a l -d e f ian t d i so rd er ( n = 8 ), an x ie ty d i so rd er n o t o th e rw ise sp ec if ied (n = 9 ) , g en era l ized an x ie tyd iso rd er ( n = 4 ) , d ep res s iv e d i so rd er n o t o th e rw ise sp ec i f ied (n = 3 ) , p o s t - t r au mat ic s t r es s d i so rd er ( n = 2 ) , an d o b ses -s ive- -compuls ive d iso rder (n = 1).

Instruments

Fear Survey Schedule fo r Children(FSSC: O l len d ick , 1 9 8 3) . Th e FSS C i s an 8 0 - i tem se l f - r ep o r t q u es t io n n a i r e . C h i ld r enare ask ed to in d ica te th e i r l ev el o f fea r to v a r io u s s t imu l i an d s i tu a t io n s o n a 3 -p o in t s ca le : ' n o n e ' , ' so m e ' , o r ' a lo t ' . Th esear e sco red 1 , 2 an d 3 , r esp ec t iv e ly, an d th en s u mm ed o v er th e 8 0 i t ems to y ie ld a to ta l f ea r s co re r an g in g f ro m 8 0 to 2 40 .Fac t o r an a ly s i s o f th e FSS C r ev ea ls a 5 - f ac to r so lu t io n : f ea r o f f a ilu r e an d c r i t i c i sm, f ea r o f th e u n k n o w n , f ea r o f in ju ryan d sm al l an imals , f ea r o f d an g er an d d ea th , an d med ica l f ea r s . S tu d ies h av e d em o n s t r a ted th a t th i s f ac to r s t r u c tu r e canb e g en era l ized ac ro ss ch i ld r en an d ad o lescen ts in th e U n i te d S ta tes (O l len d ick , 1 98 3) , A u s t r a l ia (O l len d ick , K in g & Fra ry,1989) , England (Ollendick & Yule, 1990) , and the Nether lands (Ooster laan , Pr ins & Sergeant , 1992) .

T h e t r a i t v e r s io n o f t h eState-Trai t Anxie ty Inventory for Children(STA IC : Sp ie lb e rg er, 19 73 ). Th e STA IC co n ta in s i t emssu ch as ' I w o r ry to o mu ch ' , an d ' I g e t a f u n n y f ee l in g in my s to m ach ' . Ch i ld r en h av e to r a te th ese i t ems o n a 3 -p o in t s ca le:' a lmo s t n ev er ' , ' so me t imes ' o r ' o f ten ' . STA IC sco res r an g e b e tw een 2 0 an d 6 0 w i th h ig h er sco res r e f lec t in g h ig h er l ev e lso f t r a i t an x ie ty.

Fear Survey Schedule(FSS : A r r in d e l let al., 1 98 4) . Th is q u e s t io n n a i r e sh o r t ly d esc r ib es 6 4 s t imu l i o r s i tu a t io n s . Su b jec t sh av e to r a te th e f ea r p ro v o k in g cap a c i ty o f th ese s itu a t io n s an d s t imu l i o n a 5 -p o in t s ca le r an g in g f ro m 1 (n o t a t a l l f ea rp ro v o k in g ) to 5 (v e ry mu ch f ea r p ro v o k in g ) . A to ta l FSS sco re can b e o b ta in ed b y su m min g th e sco res o f a l l 6 4 i t ems ( ran g e6 4 -3 2 0 ) .

A n expression-of-fear itemw as ad d ed to th e FSS . Par en ts w ere ask ed to w h a t ex ten t th ey g en era l ly ex p res sed th e i r fea r sin th e p r esen ce o f th e i r ch i ld r en : ' a lmo s t n ev er ' , ' so met imes ' , o r ' o f ten ' .

Tr a i t a n x i e t y o f t h e p a r e n t s w a s m e a s u r e d u s i n g t h eState-Trai t Anxie ty Inventory(STAI: Spielberger, 1983) . STAI scoresr an g e b e tw een 2 0 ( a lmo s t n ev er an x io u s ) an d 8 0 ( a lmo s t a lw ay s an x io u s ) .

Procedure

Th e FSSC an d th e STA IC w ere ad min is te r ed to th e ch i ld r en in d iv id u a l ly u p o n r e f e r r a l f o r t r ea tmen t . I n a l l cases , th i sad m in is t r a t io n w as co n d u c ted in th e c l in ica l s e t tin g as a p a r t o f th e in tak e as ses smen t . Th e FSS C w as a lw ay s g iv en fi r s t.

Pa r en ts w ere g iv en th e FSS , STA I , a n d th e ex p ress io n -o f - f ea r i t em a t th e i r f i r s t v i s i t to th e me n ta l h ea l th cen t r e . Th eyw e r e a s k e d t o c o m p l e t e t h e q u e s t i o n n a ir e s a t h o m e , a n d t o b r i n g t h e m a l o n g o n t h e i r n e x t a p p o i n t m e n t .

RESULTS

General results

Befo re ad d res s in g th e main q u es t io n s o f th e p r esen t in v es t ig a t io n , so me g en era l r e su l t s a r e p r esen ted . F i r s t , a l lq u e s t i o n n ai r e s p r o d u c e d s a t i sf a c t o ry C r o n b a c h ' s a l p h a s ( r a n g i n g b e t w e e n 0 .9 2 f o r F S S f a t h e r a n d 0 . 9 6 f o r S TA I m o t h e r ;see Tab le 1 ). Seco n d , a s ig n i f ican t n eg a t iv e co r r e la t io n w as fo u n d b e tw ee n ag e an d FSSC to ta l s co res [ r (4 0 )= -0 .4 6 ,P < 0 .0 1] , a f in d in g th a t r ep l ica tes ea r l i e r s tu d ies sh o w in g th a t s e l f - r ep o r ted ch i ld h o o d f ea r s d ec l in e w i th ag e (K in g , O i l ie r ,I acu o n e , Sch u s te r, Bay s , G u l lo n e & O l len d ick , 1 9 8 9 ; K in g , G u l lo n e & O l len d ick , 1 9 9 1 ; O l len d iek & K in g , 1 9 9 1 ,1994; Ollendicket al., 1 98 9) . Th i rd , n o sex d i ff e r en ces w ere fo u n d o n FSSC sco res . Th is r esu l t co n t r a s t s w i th p r ev io u s s tu d ies

Table 1. Means (standard deviations). Cronb ach's alphas of the various ques-tionnaires, and Pearson product-moment correlations between fear/anxiety

measures of the children and those of the parents

M (SD) ~t FSSC STAIC

FSSC 126.2 (28.8) 0.95STA IC 35.1 (10.2) 0.95 0.74**

FSS mo ther 118.7 (36.7) 0.94 0.56** 0.3 l*FSS father 90.8 (23.0) 0.92 0.17 0.17

STAI mo ther 47.4 (12.0) 0.96 0.29 0.34*STA I father 44.5(10.6) 0.94 0.21 0.31

*P < 0.05; **P < 0.001.


3/4


4/4

268 SHORTER COMM UNICATIONS

disorder. Since the current s tudy d id not document psychopathology of the parents in terms of psychiatr ic class if icat ions ,the comorbidi ty of anxiety d isorders in parents and their chi ldren could not be invest igated . Nevertheless , the resul ts atleas t show that there is a famil ial pat tern in fearfu lness .

The present data suggest that m othe r 's fear level as wel l as express ion-of-fear contrib ute to the fearfu lness of chi ldren .But what is the mechanism behind th is contribut ion? Assuming that a chi ld 's level of fearfu lness is developed during earlychi ldhood, the process ofsocial referencingmay play a ro le here. Social referencing refers to the phenomenon that youngchi ldren search act ively for emo tional info rm ation from their caregiver ( in most cases : the mother) , a nd use th is to appraiseuncertain and unk now n s i tuat ions (see Marks , 1987, p . 123). For ins tance, in a s tudy of Klinnert , Cam pos, S orce, Erodeand Svedja (1983), 1-yr-o ld chi ldren were p laced on a v isual cli ff 30 cm deep, with the ir mothe rs across the deep s ide. W hen

mothers on the o ther s ide posed fearfu l , the chi ldren showed dis t ress and none of them crossed the cl i ff--as compared to74% who c rossed when the m o ther posed joy and in teres t. I t i s p laus ib le to as sume tha t young ch i ld ren who see the i r mo therreact ing fearfu l ly to d ifferent s t imuli , ass imilate th is emo tional in form ation , a nd hence develop h igher levels of fearfu lness .

REFERENCES

American Psychiatr ic Associat ion (1994).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual o f M enta l Disorders (4th edn).Wash ing ton ,D.C . : Am er ican Psych ia t r ic Assoc ia t ion .

Arrindel l , W. A., Emm elkam p, P. M . G. & va n der Ende, J . (1984). Phob ic d imensions: I. Rel iabi l i ty and general izabi l i tyacross samples , gender and na t ions . The Fear Su rvey Schedu le (FSS-I II ) and the F ear Q ues t ionna i re (FQ) .Advancesin Behaviour Research and Therapy, 6,207 254.

Bauer, D. H. (1976). A n explora tory s tudy o f developme ntal changes in chi ldren 's fears .Journal of Child Psychology andPsychiatry, 17, 69-74.

Bernstein , G. A . & B orchardt , C. M I (1991). Anxiety d isorders of chi ldho od an d adolescence: a crit ical review.Journal ofthe American Aca dem y of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30,519-532.

Eysenck, H. J . (1987). The ro le of heredi ty, enviro nm ent , and prep ared ness in the genesis o f neurosis . In Eysenck, H. J .& Mart in , I . (Eds),Theoretical Foundations of Behavior T herapy.New York : P lenum Press .

Eysenck, M. W. (1992).Anxiety. The Cognitive Perspective.Hil lsdale, N J : LEA .King, N. J . , Gullone, E. & Ollendick , T. H. (1991). Manifes t anxiety and fearfu lness in chi ldren and adolescents .Journal

of Genetic Psychology, 153,63-73.King, N. J . , Hamil ton , D. I . & Ollendick , T. H. (1988).Children s Phob ias: a Behavioural Persp ective.Chichester: Wiley.King, N . J . , Oil ier, K. , Iacuone, R. , Schuster, S. , Bays , K., G ullone, E. & O llendick , T. H . (1989). Fears of chi ldren and

adolescents : a cross-sect ional Austral ian s tudy using the revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children .Journal of ChildPsychology and Psychiatry, 30,775-784.

Klinn ert , M. D., C amp os, J . J . , Sorce, J . F. , Em de, R. N. & Svedja, M . (1983). Em otions as behav ior regulators : socialreferencing in infancy. In Plu tchik , R. & Kellerm an, H., (Eds),The Emotions. Emotions in Earl) D evelopment(Vol. 2).New York : Academic Pres s .

Marks, I. M. (1987).Fears, Phobias and Rituals. Panic, Anxiety and their Disorders.New Y ork: Oxford Univers i ty Press .Menzies, R. G . & C larke, J. C. (1993). Th e etiology of childhoo d water phobia.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31,499-501.Menzies , R. G. & C larke, J . C. (1994). Retrospect ive s tudies of the orig ins of phobias : a review.Anxiety, Stress and Coping,

7, 305-318.Milgrom , P. , Man cl , L. , King, B. & W einstein , P. (1995). O rig ins of chi ldhood d ental fear.Behaviour Research and Therapy,33, 313-319.

Ohman, A. (1986). Face the beast and fear the face: animal and social fears as proto types for evolut ionary analyses ofemot ion .Psychophysiology, 23,123-145.

Ollendick , T. H. (1983). Rel iabi l i ty and val id i ty of the revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R).BehaviourResearch and Therapy, 21,685 -692 .

Ollendick , T. H. & K ing, N. J . (1991). Orig ins of chi ldho od fears : an evalua t ion of Rac hm an 's theo ry of fear acquis i t ion .Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29,117-123.

Ollendick , T. H . & K ing, N. J . (1994). Fears an d the ir level of in terference in adolescents.Behaviour Research and Therapy,32, 635 -638 .

Ollendick , T. H. & Y ule, W. (1990). Depress ion in B ri t ish and Am erican chi ldren and i ts relat ionship to anxiety and fear.Journal o f Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58,126-129.

Ollendick , T. H., K ing, N. J . & Frary , R. B. (1989). Fears in chi ldren and adolescents : reliabi l ity and general izabi l i ty acrossgender, age and nat ional i ty.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27,19-26.

Ollendick , T. H., Yule, W. & Oil ier, K. (1991). Fears in Bri t ish chi ldren and their relat ionship to manifes t anxiety anddepress ion .Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32,321-33 I.

Oos terlaan , J . , Prins , P. J . M . & Sergeant , J . A. (1992). D utch t ranslat io n of the Fea r Survey Schedule for Children . Po sterpresented at the3rd Congress of the Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,Saraso ta , USA.

Ost , L. G. (1991). Acquis i t ion of b lood and in ject ion phobia and anxiety response pat terns in cl in ical pat ients .BehaviourResearch and Therapy, 29,323-332.

Rachman, S. (1977). The condi t ioning theory of fear acquis i t ion: a cri t ical examinat ion .Behaviour Research and Therapy,15, 375-387.

Rachm an , S . (1990). T he de te rminan t s an d t rea tm en t o f s imp le phob ias .Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 12,1 - 3 0 .

Rac hm an, S. (1991). Ne ocon dit ioning an d the class ical theory of fear acquis i t ion .Clinical Psychology Review,11, 155-173.Rose, R . J . & D it to , W. B. (1983). A dev elopm ental-genet ic analysis of com m on fears from early adolescence to early

adu l thood . Child Development, 54,361-368.Spielberge r, C. (1973).Manual for the State-Tra i t Anx iety Inventory for Children.Palo A lto : Cons ul t ing Psychologis ts Press .Spielberger, C. (1983).Manu al for the State-T rai t Anxie ty Inventory.Palo Alto : Consul t ing Psychologis ts Press .Stevenson, J . , Ba t ten , N. & C herner, M. (1992). Fears a nd fearfu lness in chi ldren and adolescents : a genet ic analysis of

twin data.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33,977-985.Turne r, S. M., Beidel , D. C. & C ostel lo , A. (1987). P sychop atholog y in the offspring of anxiety d isorders pat ients .Journal

of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55,229-235.

the role of parental fearfulness and modeling in children's fear by peter muris, pim steerneman,...

Documents