title: Normative development of fears in Greece: self-reports on the Hellenic Fear Survey Schedule for Children.
abstract: This study assessed the psychometric properties of self-reports on the Hellenic Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-GR), a Greek-language version of Ollendick's FSSC-R [Behav. Res. Ther. 21 (1983) 685-692], and explored the factor structure, intensity, prevalence, and content of fears of Hellenic children aged 7-12 years. Internal consistency and temporal stability assessments of responding on the FSSC-GR were comparable to those obtained on the FSSC-R. A seven-factor solution provided the best conceptual fit for the structure of children's fears in Greece, including five components similar to factors previously obtained for the FSSC-R, plus two unique components, "Travel and Agoraphobic Fears" and "School Performance Fears." Fear intensity and prevalence scores of Hellenic children were higher than scores observed in most countries. Self-reported fear scores were higher for Hellenic girls than for boys. The relation between age and self-reported fears in Greece was complex and interpreted in relation to age-related changes in environmental demands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Republic University of Crete, University City at Gallos, 74100 Rethymno, Crete, Greece. mellonr@otenet.gr
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mellon
authors.forename: Emmanouil A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Koliadis
authors.forename: Theodoros D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Paraskevopoulos
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires