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A developmental analysis of self‐reported fears in late childhood through mid‐adolescence: social‐evaluative fears on the rise?
Author(s) -
Michiel Westenberg P.,
Drewes Martine J.,
Goedhart Arnold W.,
Siebelink Berend M.,
Treffers Philip D.A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00239.x
Subject(s) - psychology , maturity (psychological) , developmental psychology , cognition , psychiatry
Background: The frequently reported decline in the overall frequency and intensity of fears during late childhood and adolescence may mask different developmental patterns for two broad subclasses of fears: fears concerning physical danger and fears concerning social evaluation. It was investigated if physical fears decrease between late childhood and mid‐adolescence, while social‐evaluative fears increase during this period. It was also studied if changes in both sets of fears are more strongly related to socio‐cognitive maturity than to age, which itself is only a proxy measure of maturity. Methods: A non‐clinical sample of 882 children and adolescents (ages 8–18) was recruited for study. Fears were assessed using the Ollendick Fear Survey Schedule for Children – Revised (FSSC‐R). A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was conducted to study the factor structure of the Failure and Criticism subscale of the FSSC‐R. Level of development was assessed using the Sentence Completion Test for Youth (SCT‐Y), a measure of socio‐cognitive maturity that is based on Loevinger's model, and measure, of ego development. Results: The PCA of the Failure and Criticism subscale revealed three factors: Social Evaluation, Achievement Evaluation, and Punishment. As predicted, the significant decrease of overall fearfulness obscured two contradictory developmental patterns: (a) fears of physical danger and punishment decreased with age, whereas (b) fears of social and achievement evaluation increased with age. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the age effect for social‐evaluative fears was explained entirely on the basis of developmental differences in socio‐cognitive maturity (controlling for verbal ability). In contrast, age was a better predictor of the decrease of physical and punishment fears (although socio‐cognitive maturity still added to the predictive value of age). Conclusion: The expression of social evaluation fears during adolescence appears not atypical and might be a corollary of socio‐cognitive maturation. At the same time, the natural presence of those fears during adolescence appears to constitute a vulnerability for developing a social anxiety disorder.