Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Fears, Phobias and Anxieties of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Down Syndrome: Comparisons with Developmentally and Chronologically Age Matched Children

  • Published:
Child Psychiatry and Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study compared the fears and behavior problems of 25 children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 43 children with Down syndrome (DS), 45 mental age (MA) matched children, and 37 chronologically age (CA) matched children. Children’s fears, phobias, anxieties and behavioral problems were assessed using parent reports. Significant differences emerged across the diagnostic groups on a variety of fears. Children with ASD were reported to have more situation phobias and medical fears, but fewer fears of harm/injury compared to all other groups. The groups also differed in terms of the pattern of correlations between fears, phobias, anxieties and behavior problems. For children with ASD, fears, phobias and anxieties were closely related to problem behaviors, whereas fears, phobias, and anxieties were less related to behavioral symptoms for the other groups of subjects. Such findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit a distinct profile of fear and anxiety compared to other mental age and chronologically age-matched children, and these fears are related to the symptoms associated with ASD.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Reference

  1. Gibson EJ, Walk RD: The “visual cliff”. Scientific American 202: 2–9.

  2. J Kagan (1960) Overview Perspectives on human infancy J.D. Osofsky (Eds) The Handbook of Infant Development. Wiley New York 1–25

    Google Scholar 

  3. J Kagan (1981) The second year Harvard University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  4. I Marks (1987) Fears, phobias and rituals Oxford University Press Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  5. S Scarr P Salapatek (1970) ArticleTitlePatterns of fear development during infancy Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 16 53–90

    Google Scholar 

  6. DO Hebb (1946) ArticleTitleOn the nature of fear Psychological Review 53 259–276

    Google Scholar 

  7. JL Derevensky (1979) ArticleTitleChildren’s fears: A developmental comparison of normal and exceptional children J Gen Psychol 135 11–21

    Google Scholar 

  8. A Maurer (1965) ArticleTitleWhat children fear J Gen Psychol 106 265–277

    Google Scholar 

  9. J Kagan JS Reznick C Clarke N Snidman C Garcia-Coll (1984) ArticleTitleBehavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar Child Devel 55 2212–2225

    Google Scholar 

  10. F Serafica D Cicchetti (1976) ArticleTitleDown’s syndrome children in a strange situation: Attachment and exploration behaviors Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 22 137–150

    Google Scholar 

  11. E Gullone NJ King RA Cummins (1996) ArticleTitleFears of children and adolescents with mental retardation: A psychometric evaluation of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II (FSSC-II) Res in Dev Disabil 17 269–234 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0891-4222(96)00008-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. E Gullone NJ King (1997) ArticleTitleThree-year follow-up of normal fear in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years Br J Dev Psychol 5 97–111

    Google Scholar 

  13. J Burack (1990) Differentiating mental retardation: The two-group approach and beyond R.M. Hodapp J. Burack E. Zigler (Eds) Issues in the developmental approach to mental retardation. Cambridge University Press NY

    Google Scholar 

  14. E. Dykens (1995) ArticleTitleMeasuring behavioral phenotypes: Provocations from the “new genetics” Am J Men Ret 99 522–532

    Google Scholar 

  15. SZ Ramirez TR Kratochwill (1997) ArticleTitleSelf-reported fears in children with and without mental retardation Men Ret 35 83–92 Occurrence Handle10.1352/0047-6765(1997)035<0083:SFICWA>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. B Vandenberg (1993) ArticleTitleFears of normal and retarded children Psychol Rep 72 473–474 Occurrence Handle8488229

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. D Cicchetti L Sroufe (1976) ArticleTitleThe relationship between affective and cognitive development in Down’s syndrome infants Child Devel 47 920–929

    Google Scholar 

  18. MK Rothbart MJ Hanson (1983) ArticleTitleA caregiver report comparison of temperamental characteristics of Down syndrome and normal infants. Dev Psychol 19 766–769 Occurrence Handle10.1037//0012-1649.19.5.766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. FA Bridges D Cicchetti (1982) ArticleTitleMothers’ ratings of the temperamental characteristics of Down syndrome infants Dev Psychol 18 238–244 Occurrence Handle10.1037//0012-1649.18.2.238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. EM Dykens (2003) ArticleTitleAnxiety, fears and phobias in persons with Williams syndrome Dev Neuropsychol 23 291–316 Occurrence Handle10.1207/S15326942DN231&2_13 Occurrence Handle12730029

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. TH Ollendick (1983) ArticleTitleReliability and validity of the revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R) Beh Res Ther 21 685–692 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0005-7967(83)90087-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. TO Ollendick W Yule K Ollier (1991) ArticleTitleFears in British children and their relationship to manifest anxiety and depression J Child Psychol Psychiat 32 321–331 Occurrence Handle2033111

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. J Kagan JS Reznick N Snidman J Gibbons MO Johnson (1988) ArticleTitleChildhood derivatives of inhibition and lack of inhibition to the unfamiliar Child Devel 59 1580–1589

    Google Scholar 

  24. P Howlin R Merchant M Rutter M Berger L Hersov W Yule (1973) ArticleTitleA home-based approach to the treatment of autistic children J ASD Childhood Schizophrenia 3 308–336 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01538540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. HJ Jackson NJ King (1982) ArticleTitleThe therapeutic management of an autistic child’s phobia using laughter as the anxiety inhibitor Beh Psychother 10 364–369

    Google Scholar 

  26. B Wilson HJ Jackson (1980) ArticleTitleAn in vivo approach to the desensitization of a reatarded child’s toilet phobia Aus J of Dev Disabil 6 137–141

    Google Scholar 

  27. JK Luiselli (1978) ArticleTitleTreatment of an autistic child’s fear of riding a school bus through exposure and reinforcement J Beh Ther Exp Psychiat 9 1969–1972

    Google Scholar 

  28. SR Love JL Matson D West (1990) ArticleTitleMothers as effective therapists for autistic children’s phobias J Appl Beh Anal 23 379–385

    Google Scholar 

  29. DM Luscre DB Center (1996) ArticleTitleProcedures for reducing dental fear in children with ASD J ASD Dev Dis 26 547–556

    Google Scholar 

  30. JL Matson SR Love (1990) ArticleTitleA comparison of parent-reported fear for austistic and nonhandicapped age-matched children and youth Aus New Zealand J Dev Disabil 16 349–357

    Google Scholar 

  31. RL Thorndike EP Hagen JM Sattler (1986) Stanford-Binet intelligence scale (Technical manual) EditionNumber4 Riverside Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  32. N Bayley (1993) Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development EditionNumber2 The Psychological Corporation San Antonio

    Google Scholar 

  33. SW Garber MD Garber RF Spizman (1987) Monsters under the bed and other childhood fears Villard NY

    Google Scholar 

  34. KC Conners (1985) ArticleTitleThe Revised Conners Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-R): Factor structure, reliability, and criterion validity J Abnorm Child Psychol 26 257–286 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1022602400621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. JM Sattler (1988) Assessment of Children Jerome M. Sattler Publishing San Diego, CA

    Google Scholar 

  36. Association. American Psychiatric (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders EditionNumber4 University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry Burlington, VT

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA

    David W. Evans PhD & Kristin Canavera BS

  2. Department of Psychology, River Parishes Community College, USA

    F. Lee Kleinpeter. PhD

  3. Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, USA

    Elise Maccubbin

  4. Department of Psychology, Bucknell University, USA

    Ken Taga

Authors
  1. David W. Evans PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kristin Canavera BS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. Lee Kleinpeter. PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Elise Maccubbin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ken Taga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David W. Evans PhD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Evans, D.W., Canavera, K., Kleinpeter., F.L. et al. The Fears, Phobias and Anxieties of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Down Syndrome: Comparisons with Developmentally and Chronologically Age Matched Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 36, 3–26 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-004-3619-x

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-004-3619-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation