A developmental analysis of self-reported fears in late childhood through mid-adolescence: social-evaluative fears on the rise?
BACKGROUND
The frequently reported decline in the overall frequency and intensity of fears during late childhood and adolescence may mask different developmental patterns for two broad subclasses of fears: fears concerning physical danger and fears concerning social evaluation. It was investigated if physical fears decrease between late childhood and mid-adolescence, while social-evaluative fears increase during this period. It was also studied if changes in both sets of fears are more strongly related to socio-cognitive maturity than to age, which itself is only a proxy measure of maturity.


METHODS
A non-clinical sample of 882 children and adolescents (ages 8-18) was recruited for study. Fears were assessed using the Ollendick Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R). A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was conducted to study the factor structure of the Failure and Criticism subscale of the FSSC-R. Level of development was assessed using the Sentence Completion Test for Youth (SCT-Y), a measure of socio-cognitive maturity that is based on Loevinger's model, and measure, of ego development.


RESULTS
The PCA of the Failure and Criticism subscale revealed three factors: Social Evaluation, Achievement Evaluation, and Punishment. As predicted, the significant decrease of overall fearfulness obscured two contradictory developmental patterns: (a) fears of physical danger and punishment decreased with age, whereas (b) fears of social and achievement evaluation increased with age. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the age effect for social-evaluative fears was explained entirely on the basis of developmental differences in socio-cognitive maturity (controlling for verbal ability). In contrast, age was a better predictor of the decrease of physical and punishment fears (although socio-cognitive maturity still added to the predictive value of age).


CONCLUSIONS
The expression of social evaluation fears during adolescence appears not atypical and might be a corollary of socio-cognitive maturation. At the same time, the natural presence of those fears during adolescence appears to constitute a vulnerability for developing a social anxiety disorder.
Westenberg
P Michiel
PM
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands. westenberg@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Drewes
Martine J
MJ
Goedhart
Arnold W
AW
Siebelink
Berend M
BM
Treffers
Philip D A
PD
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012650:Self Disclosure