Elsevier

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Volume 12, Issue 5, September–October 1998, Pages 437-461
Journal of Anxiety Disorders

The Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-HI): Ethnocultural Variations in Children’s Fearfulness

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0887-6185(98)00027-9Get rights and content

Abstract

A revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children was used to examine the structure and developmental pattern of fearfulness in an ethnoculturally diverse sample of 385 Hawaii schoolchildren aged 7 to 16 years. The instrument’s psychometric properties compared favorably with previous versions of the FSSC, and a 7-factor solution provided the best conceptual fit for the data. Six factors were similar to those described in previous versions of the FSSC, whereas the seventh was unique, reflecting children’s social conformity fears. Between-group comparisons revealed significantly less fearfulness in children of Caucasian than of Asian, Filipino, and Hawaiian ethnocultural backgrounds. Gender and age differences were similar to previous reports in finding greater fearfulness in girls than boys, and in younger than older children on most factors. Results corroborate previous reports concerning gender and age trajectories of fearfulness and indicate that culture may mediate the expression of fears in culturally diverse populations.

Section snippets

Participants

Three hundred eighty-five children aged 7 to 16 years (198 girls and 187 boys) were recruited from public (three) and private (one) schools on Oahu, where approximately 75% of the State’s population resides (State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, 1994). All participating schools were approached in an attempt to approximate the diversity of Hawaii’s population in ethnic background and SES. One of the three public schools is affiliated with the University of

Results

Completed FSSC-HI inventories were subjected to a five-tier level of analysis to address the objectives of the study. Obtained data were initially analyzed to examine the factor structure of the instrument and to develop subscales based on factor loadings. A second set of analyses was undertaken to examine the scale’s psychometric properties. The potential effects of gender, age, SES, and ethnicity on total scores and fear prevalence were subsequently examined using univariate procedures. The

Discussion

Empirical investigations of children’s self-reported fearfulness using the original and revised versions of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC) intimate a multidimensional construct involving five factors, and a relatively stable developmental pattern that decreases with age for children of Caucasian ethnicity. Recent cross-national and cross-cultural studies, however, suggest that ethnocultural factors may influence the dimensional nature of the construct as well as the developmental

Acknowledgements

Parts of this article were presented at the 16th National Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, March 1996, Orlando, Florida.

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