Phobias, Childhood

Prevalence and Developmental Variations

Epidemiological studies have reported varied prevalence rates of childhood phobia (hereafter referred to as specific phobia), depending on the type of phobia and the sample from which the information was drawn (community, clinic). Generally, prevalence rates for specific phobia range from 1.7% to 6% in community samples and 6% to 12% in clinic samples. Although girls report a greater number and a higher intensity of fears than boys, rates of specific phobia do not appear to differ between boys and girls. However, specific phobia appears to be more prominent in younger children than in older children, and in children from lower, rather than higher, socioeconomic status backgrounds. There is limited research on the prevalence of childhood phobias among diverse ethnic or racial groups. One study conducted on a community sample of youth aged 4 to 16 years in Puerto Rico reported the prevalence rate for specific phobia as 2.6%. A different study conducted by another group compared rates of anxiety and phobic symptoms in an outpatient clinic sample of African American and Euro-American youth (aged 5 to 17 years). Results indicated that African American youth reported higher levels of fears than Euro-American youth (Last & Perrin, 1993). In another study, Hispanic and Euro-American youth were compared, and results indicated that parents of Hispanic youth rated their children as more fearful than did parents of Euro-American youth. Significant differences between Hispanic and Euro-American youth were not found in the youth self-ratings of fear (Ginsburg & Silverman, 1996).

Assessment

A comprehensive assessment involves assessing the cognitive, physiological, and behavioral aspects of specific phobias. A variety of semistructured (e.g., Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: child and Parent Versions) and structured (e.g., Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children) diagnostic interviews can be used to assess specific phobias. In addition, several rating scales are useful for identifying and quantifying anxiety and phobic symptoms (i.e., Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, and the Screen for Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders), as they discriminate among the different anxiety and phobic disorders. Other rating scales have been found useful for assessing different types of specific fears, including the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children.

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