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Normative Fear in Childhood and Adolescence: Patterns and Correlates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Eleonora Gullone
Eleonora Gullone*
Affiliation:
Monash University
*
School of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, Vic 3168
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Abstract

The literature on normative fear in children and adolescents outlined in this review spans almost a century from the work of Hall and Hagman in the late 1800s and early 1900s to the more recent contributions of researchers such as Ollendick, King, and Gullone. Methodologies range from unstructured open-ended inteview formats to soundly validated research instruments enabling meaningful comparison of different subject populations. Developmental changes occur in the content, intensity, and frequency of normative fear. Fearfulness has been related to chronological age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Recently the nature of what children and adoloscents find fearful has changed. Developmental changes in what children are prepared to find fearful contributes to the distribution of their fears and warrant the attention of caregivers.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , November 1992 , pp. 39 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1992

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References

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