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Fears and Fearfulness in South-African Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Käthe Burkhardt ,
Helene Loxton  and
Peter Muris
Käthe Burkhardt
Affiliation:
University of Stellenbosch, South-Africa
Helene Loxton
Affiliation:
University of Stellenbosch, South-Africa
Peter Muris*
Affiliation:
Maastricht Unversity, the Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Peter Muris, Department of Medical, Clinical, and Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands. Email: p.muris@dep.unimaas.nl
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Abstract

The present study examined common childhood fears in 9- to 13-year-old South-African children (N = 404) from white, coloured, and black cultural groups. Fears were assessed by means of two methods — the fear list method and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R). Results showed that fear rank orders as obtained with the fear list method were quite different from those derived from the FSSC-R. Furthermore, clear differences in fear levels were found among the three cultural groups. More specifically, coloured and black South-African children displayed significantly higher fear levels than white children. Finally, differences were also found as to the content of prevalent fears in the three cultural groups. For example, common fears in coloured and black children were more frequently related to violence than in white children.

Type
Articles
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , 01 June 2003 , pp. 94 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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