Children's fears: cultural and developmental perspectives
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 21, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
Published on: October 19, 2014
S Elbedour1, S Shulman, P Kedem
1Ben Gurion Univerity of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel.
Abstract:
A modified version of the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to 865 Israeli Jewish and Israeli Bedouin children, 8-12 yr-old. Consistent with former studies, there was an age-related decline in fears and females reported more fears than males. Comparison of Jewish and Bedouin children's reports of fears showed significant quantitative and qualitative differences between the two groups. Results underscore the salience of both developmental and cultural factors in the development and nature of children's fears.
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