The fears of youth in the 1990s: contemporary normative data

This article reports the findings of a normative fear investigation involving a sample of 918 Australian children and adolescents, ranging in age from 7-18 years. The Fear Survey Schedule for Children and Adolescents-II (FSSC-II) was administered to determine self-reported prevalence, intensity, and content of fear. Consistent with past research, girls generally reported significantly higher levels of fearfulness than boys. Age differences also were found; younger children reported a higher intensity and a greater number of fears than older children and adolescents. Qualitative differences in normative fear were found, with younger children reporting more animal fears and older children reporting more fears relating to social evaluation or psychic stress. Significantly, although the specific content of children's and adolescents' normative fears in the 1990s (as compared with the 1960s) has changed (now including fear of AIDS and of nuclear war), the fears found to be most prevalent continue to relate to death and danger. These findings are discussed within the context of the prepotency and preparedness concepts of fear.