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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 nonclinical sample of 882 children and adolescents (ages 818) 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 Loevingers 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 sociocognitive maturity still added to the predictive value of age). Conclusion: 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. Keywords: Adolescence, conformity, ego
development, fears, normal development, school children. Abbreviations: WUSCT: Washington University Sentence Completion Test; SCT-Y: Sentence Completion Test for Youth; FSSC-R: Fear Survey
Schedule for Children Revised.
482
483
484
Method
Participants
Participants were 882 children and adolescents
recruited from three elementary schools (grades 36;
ages 812; N 290) and two high schools (grades
712; ages 1218; N 592) in the Netherlands. The
schools were selected to represent all SES levels and
academic backgrounds (e.g., college preparatory
schools, technical schools). Parental consent was
obtained in the following manner. Parents received an
elaborate description of the study at their home
address and they were given access to the measures (in
the school directors office). Parents were asked if their
child might participate in the research. If not, parents
were asked to note their rejection on an enclosed form
in a stamped return envelope. Only 3 parents did not
allow their child to participate in the research. The
pupils themselves were also asked to participate in the
research and it was explained to them that their participation was entirely voluntary. None of the children
refused; on the contrary, most children were eager to
participate. The entire project, including recruitment
and consent procedures, was approved by the Medical
Ethical Committee of the Leiden University Medical
Center.
The average age of the participants was 13.7 years
(SD 2.7); boys were significantly older than girls (14.0
vs. 13.3 years of age, respectively; t 3.77; df 879;
p < .001). For purposes of data analyses, participants
were assigned to three age groups: late childhood (811
years of age; N 288: 135 boys, 153 girls), early adolescence (1214 years of age; N 303: 174 boys, 129
girls), and mid-adolescence (1518 years of age;
N 291: 180 boys, 111 girls).
Procedures
All measures were administered in the classroom in two
separate 45-minute sessions (ego development was
assessed in session 1, fears and verbal ability were
assessed in session 2).
Assessment of socio-cognitive maturation. Sociocognitive maturity was assessed using the Sentence
Completion Test for Children and Youths (SCT-Y; Westenberg, Treffers, & Drewes, 1998). The SCT-Y is a
revised version of Loevingers (1985) Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy & Loevinger, 1996). The SCT-Y and accompanying scoring
manual was specifically constructed for use with
adolescents and children over 8 years of age (Westenberg, Jonckheer et al., 1998), whereas Loevingers
485
486
Results
Level of socio-cognitive maturity and age group
Participants of the present study were mostly at the
Impulsive (N 165: 93 boys, 72 girls), Self-protective (N 375: 244 boys, 131 girls), and Conformist/
Self-aware (N 342: 152 boys, 190 girls) ego levels.
(Participants at the Self-aware, or higher, ego level
were relatively rare and it was not expected that this
group would differ significantly from the participants
at the Conformist level. Hence Self-aware participants were merged with the Conformist group for
purposes of data analyses.) The distribution of children in each ego level by age group is presented in
Figure 1.
487
70
60
Percentage of Participants
50
40
Impulsive
Self-protective
Conformist/Self-aware
30
20
10
0
Late Childhood (age 811)
Table 1 Principal Components Analysis of the Fear of Failure and Criticism Scale of the FSSC-R1 (factor loadings)
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
.68
.65
.62
.59
.57
.52
.49
.43
.00
.15
.22
.18
.11
.36
.17
.25
.13
.10
.00
.13
.13
.33
.33
.31
.15
.17
.25
.16
.45
.17
.80
.80
.74
.70
.53
.49
.20
.21
.00
.12
.17
.43
.00
.00
.21
.30
.13
.39
.14
.00
.22
.14
.19
.25
.12
.00
.71
.69
.60
.59
.55
.47
.45
.12
.29
.24
.13
.23
.12
488
Also as expected, the very clear age trends reported above were masked when the analysis was
restricted to the total Failure and Criticism scale. A
3 (age) 2 (gender) ANOVA revealed that the total
score on the Failure and Criticism scale was weakly
related to age, but this relationship was not statistically significant (see Table 2). The age by gender
interaction effect was not significant either
(F(2,876) 2.45, ns.).
A 3 (age) 2 (gender) MANOVA also indicated a
significant effect of age on the four physical subscales (F(8, 1746) 13.46, p < .001; the age data,
Univariate F-tests, post-hoc tests of mean differences, and effect sizes are presented in Table 2). The
age by gender interaction effect was not significant
(F(8, 1746) 1.29, ns.). Results revealed the expected decrease of physical fears: children (ages 811)
were significantly more fearful than were adolescents
(ages 1218) of the unknown, of animals and small
injury, and of danger and death. Children were also
more fearful of medical situations than were early
adolescents. The two adolescent age groups (1214
and 1518 years) were not significantly different
from each other on any of the physical subscales.
Consistent with the findings of several prior fear
survey studies, the results also revealed the agerelated decrease of the Total Fear Score (i.e., the
average score of the 80 FSSC-R items). Children ages
811 report significantly more fear than adolescents
ages 1218 (see Table 2). Again, the age by gender
interaction effect was not significant (F(2, 876)
1.16, ns.).
Relations to ego level maturity. A 3 (ego level) 2
(gender) MANOVA indicated a significant effect of ego
level on the three social subscales (F(6,1746)
24.09, p < .001; the data, Univariate F-tests, results
of Scheffe procedure, and effect sizes are presented
Table 2 Effect of age group on social and physical fear scores (fear scores standardized by gender)
Means (standard deviations)
Age groups:
N:
Social fears
Social evaluationb
Achievement evaluationb
Punishmentb
Failure and criticisma
Physical fears
The unknowna
Animals and small injurya
Danger and deatha
Medical situationsa
Total Fear Score
a
1. 811
288
2. 1214
303
3. 1518
291
Univariate
F-tests
F (2,876)
Post-hoc tests1
(Scheffe
procedure)
).13
).32
.32
).07
(.92)
(.90)
(1.09)
(1.02)
).14
.03
).07
).07
(.94)
(.95)
(.96)
(.98)
.28
.29
).24
.13
(1.08)
(1.05)
(.86)
(.99)
16.77**
26.43**
24.26**
3.79
13; 23
12; 13; 23;
12; 13
.34
.22
.44
.14
.25
(1.16)
(1.06)
(.93)
(.90)
(1.09)
).19
).17
).18
).09
).18
(.85)
(.89)
(.96)
(.98)
(.90)
).15
).04
).24
).04
).07
(.88)
(1.01)
(.97)
(1.10)
(.96)
27.22**
12.22**
45.99**
4.85*
15.40**
12; 13
12; 13
12; 13
12
12; 13
Scales from the Fear Survey Schedule for Children Revised (FSSC-R; Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989).
Subscale of the Failure and Criticism scale of the FSSC-R (see Table 1).
1
Significant differences between age groups are reported (e.g., 12 means that age group 1 differed significantly from age group 2;
p < .05).
2
d M1 ) M2/((SD1 + SD2)/2).
* p < .01; ** p < .001.
b
489
Table 3 Effect of ego level on social and physical fear scores (fear scores standardized by gender)
Means (standard deviations)
Ego level:
N:
Social fears
Social evaluationb
Achievement evaluationb
Punishmentb
Failure and criticisma
Physical fears
The unknowna
Animals and small injurya
Danger and deatha
Medical situationsa
Total Fear Score
1. Impulsive
165
2. Selfprotective
375
3. Conformist/
Selfaware
342
Univariate
F-tests
F (2,876)
Post-hoc tests1
(Scheffe
procedure)
).28
).34
.21
).17
(.80)
(.84)
(1.08)
(.94)
).12
).08
).02
).08
(.93)
(.95)
(.96)
(.96)
.26
.26
).07
.17
(1.10)
(1.06)
(.99)
(1.05)
21.70**
23.28**
4.63*
8.83**
13; 23
12; 13; 23
12; 13
13; 23
.23
.13
.30
.12
.13
(1.09)
(1.01)
(.95)
(.92)
(1.04)
).05
).04
.04
).07
).05
(.96)
(.97)
(.97)
(.93)
(.96)
).06
).02
).18
.02
).01
(.99)
(1.02)
(1.02)
(1.10)
(1.02)
5.06*
1.93
13.99**
2.17
1.77
12; 13
12; 13; 23
Scales from the Fear Survey Schedule for Children Revised (FSSC-R; Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989).
Subscale of the Failure and Criticism scale of the FSSC-R (see Table 1).
1
Significant differences between ego level groups are reported (e.g., 12 means that Impulsive ego level differed significantly from
Self-protective ego level; p < .05).
2
d M1 ) M2/((SD1+SD2)/2).
* p < .01; ** p < .001.
b
490
Table 4 Incremental effect of ego level on social and physical fears (controlling for effects of age and verbal ability)
Hierarchical Regression Analyses
Step 1. Age
(continuous score)
Social fears
Social evaluationb
Achievement evaluationb
Punishmentb
Failure and criticisma
Physical fears
The unknowna
Animals and small injurya
Danger and deatha
Medical situationsa
Total Fear Score
R2
F (1, 870)
R2-change
F (2, 869)
R2-change
F (1, 868)
.034
.068
.060
.008
30.81**
63.23**
55.05**
6.84*
.000
.012
.013
.010
.02
11.17*
12.28**
8.53*
.031
.028
.012
.030
28.81**
27.24**
11.10*
27.62**
.042
.013
.089
.005
.019
38.23**
11.38*
85.09**
4.58
16.65**
.014
.016
.034
.004
.024
12.63**
14.48**
33.34**
3.72
22.04**
.013
.009
.006
.004
.020
11.84*
7.80*
6.47
3.40
18.71**
Scales from the Fear Survey Schedule for Children Revised (FSSC-R; Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989).
Subscale of the Failure and Criticism scale of the FSSC-R (see Table 1).
* p < .01; ** p < .001.
b
Table 5 Incremental effect of age on social and physical fears (controlling for effects of ego level and verbal ability)
Hierarchical Regression Analyses
step 1. Ego level
(item average score)
Social fears
Social evaluationb
Achievement evaluationb
Punishmentb
Failure and criticisma
Physical fears
The unknowna
Animals and small injurya
Danger and deatha
Medical situationsa
Total Fear Score
Step 3. Age
(continuous score)
R2
F (1, 870)
R2-change
F (2, 869)
R2-change
F (1, 868)
.058
.065
.018
.021
53.76**
60.53**
15.49*
18.55**
.007
.039
.006
.023
6.56
37.99**
5.37
20.60**
.000
.003
.061
.004
.00
3.39
57.64**
3.83
.011
.003
.044
.001
.002
9.39*
2.79
39.82**
.71
2.11
.008
.013
.016
.003
.022
7.07*
11.75*
14.33**
3.04
19.45**
.050
.021
.070
.009
.039
46.45**
19.17**
69.75**
7.94*
36.13**
Scales from the Fear Survey Schedule for Children Revised (FSSC-R; Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989).
Subscale of the Failure and Criticism scale of the FSSC-R (see Table 1).
* p < .01; ** p < .001.
b
Discussion
Several investigators have noted that the overall
frequency and intensity of fears declines during late
childhood and adolescence, and some have argued
that this age-related decline is part of normal development (see Gullone, 2000; Marks, 1987). The current findings, however, provide only partial support
for this assertion: fears concerning physical danger
and of punishment decreased with age, whereas
fears concerning social evaluation and achievement
increased with age.
The different age trends for social-evaluative fears
on the one hand and physical and punishment fears
on the other were masked when all fear items were
combined into one fear scale (i.e., Total Fear Score).
Prior research, as well as the present study, has generally shown that Total Fear Scores computed from all
60
50
40
No Fear
Mild Fear
Moderate Fear
Strong Fear
30
20
10
0
Impulsive
491
Self-protective
Conformist/Self-aware
492
Author note
P. Michiel Westenberg and Martine J. Drewes,
Department of Psychology, Leiden University, The
Netherlands; Arnold W. Goedhart, Berend M. Siebelink, and Philip D. A. Treffers, Department of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.
This research was supported in part by grants
from the Dutch National Fund for Mental Health
(Utrecht) and the Frijling Prins Fund (Amsterdam).
The article has benefited greatly from comments by
Lawrence D. Cohn (University of Texas, El Paso),
Jaklien Gillis (Leiden University, The Netherlands),
Brian E. Vaughn (Auburn University, Alabama), and
two reviewers on earlier versions.
Correspondence to
P. Michiel Westenberg, Department of Psychology,
Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands.
Email: westenberg@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
493
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