The etiology of childhood spider phobia

Twenty-six girls with a clinical spider phobia and 26 matched control girls were interviewed about conditioning, modeling, and negative information experiences in connection with spiders. In addition, parents of the phobic girls were independently interviewed about the origins of their child's phobia. Phobic children more often reported aversive conditioning experiences with spiders than did control children. Also, in a number of cases, conditioning events described by the phobic children were confirmed by their parents, a result that replicates the findings of Merckelbach, Muris and Schouten (1996; Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 935-938). Taken together, the results contradict a strong version of the non-associative account of phobias and suggest that in at least some cases, conditioning events may contribute to the development of (childhood) spider phobia.