Pathways to fear in spider phobic children

doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(96)00052-6

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Volume 34, Issues 11–12, November–December 1996, Pages 935-938

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(96)00052-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

Twenty-two children with spider phobia were interviewed about the origins of their fear. More specifically, children were asked about conditioning events, modeling experiences, and negative information transmission. To evaluate the reliability of the information provided by the children, parents were independently interviewed about the origins of their children's phobias. While 46% of the children claimed to have always been afraid, 41% ascribed the onset of their fear to aversive conditioning events. The large majority of these events were confirmed by parents. These findings cast doubts on a strong version of the non-associative account of spider phobia, i.e. the idea that spider phobia is acquired in the complete absence of learning experiences.

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Citation Excerpt :
The authors found that a majority of the children (89%) attributed their fear to negative information, whereas conditioning and modeling were less often mentioned by the children (36% and 56%, respectively). Further research has shown that the three pathways as described by Rachman's theory also seem to be involved in the acquisition of various specific types of childhood fears, including fear of dogs (King, Clowes-Hollins, & Ollendick, 1997), spiders (Merckelbach, Muris, & Schouten, 1996), and water (Graham & Gaffan, 1997; see for a review King, Gullone, & Ollendick, 1998). On a methodological note, studies that examined Rachman's three-pathways theory in children typically rely on questionnaires or interviews that employ rather liberal criteria for determining whether conditioning, modeling, and negative information experiences have played a role in the etiology of fears.
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Shorter communicationPathways to fear in spider phobic children

Abstract

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Clinical Psychology Review

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Clinical Psychology Review

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

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Pathways to fear in spider phobic children