Specific Phobia in Youth: Phenomenology and Psychological Characteristics

Abstract

Sociodemographic and psychological characteristics of 62 youth with animal and natural environment types of specific phobia were examined in a treatment-seeking sample. Differences due to age, sex, ethnicity, family structure, and family socioeconomic status were not found between youth with the two types of specific phobia. Moreover, differences were not obtained between the two groups in the clinical severity of their phobias, the perceived dangerousness of the feared outcomes associated with their phobias, the perceived levels of coping with their phobias, or overall fearfulness. However, differences between youth with the two types of specific phobias were found on somatic/anxious symptoms, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. In addition, differences were noted on withdrawn, somatic complaints, anxious/depressed symptoms, and social problems as reported by the mothers of these youngsters. Finally, differences in the percent of co-occurring anxiety disorders between youth with the two types of specific phobia were found. On all of the domains in which differences were found, youth with the natural environment type fared more poorly than those with the animal type. These findings converge with those obtained in treatment studies which indicate that youth with the natural environment type are more difficult to treat than youth with the animal type.According to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), a specific phobia is defined as a persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable and that is cued by the presence of a specific object or situation. Specific phobias are classified into five major types: animal (e.g., insects, snakes, dogs), natural environment (e.g., darkness, storms, heights), situational (e.g., enclosed spaces, elevators, flying), blood-injection-injury (BII) (e.g., seeing blood, receiving Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Brown, and Barlow (1997) indicated that BII phobias are associated with reduced physiological arousal whereas other phobia types are characterized by heightened physiological arousal. However, the clinical features of specific phobia types in children have not been examined heretofore. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine such differences in two major types of phobia in children and adolescents: animal and natural environment types. NIH Public AccessTo date, only a few investigations have reported on sociodemographic characteristics of children with specific phobias in community and clinical sampl...

Specific phobia: a review of DSM-IV specific phobia and preliminary recommendations for DSM-V

“…[23] However, another study with adults showed that whereas both animal phobia and natural environment phobia were associated with impairment as measured by seeking professional help, interference with daily life, and interference with social functioning, situational phobia and B-I-I phobia were found to be more significantly impairing than either animal phobia or natural environment phobia. [6] Still, another study found no differences in impairment among different types of SP (measured by the F-DIPS, Diagnostic Interview for Psychiatric Disorders-Research Version) among different SP types.…”

“…[4] In a sample of clinic-referred children and adolescents, youth with natural environment phobias (primarily storms and dark/alone) were found to have more somatic/anxious symptoms and depressive symptoms than youth with animal phobias. [23] Youth with the natural environment type also had higher rates of comorbidity with other anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and separation anxiety disorder.…”

The tripartite model of fear in children with specific phobias: Assessing concordance and discordance using the behavioral approach test

“…We also reasoned that phobia type might be related to emotional arousal on the BAT, such that there would be more children with the natural environment type in the high arousal-high distress group, more children with the animal type in the low arousal-low distress group, and an equal number of each in the discordant group. This hypothesis was based on recent findings showing that children with natural environment phobias differ from children with animal phobias on somatic/anxious symptoms, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and co-occurring anxiety disorders (Ollendick, Raishevich, Davis, Sirbu, & Öst, 2010). We did not offer hypotheses about situational or blood-injury-injection phobia types because we did not have a sufficient number of youth in the former group to examine such hypotheses and the latter group was specifically excluded from the original study from which these participants were drawn (Ollendick et al, 2009).…”

The Short Form of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R-SF): An efficient, reliable, and valid scale for measuring fear in children and adolescents

“…This finding can be explained by the fact that fear in specific phobias is generally bound to one circumscribed stimulus or situation and by definition mainly arises during confrontation with that stimulus or situation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), whereas fear in the other anxiety disorders tends to be more global and omnipresent in youths' lives. This does not imply, however, that specific phobias should be taken less seriously as research has demonstrated that this type of psychopathology also has a significant negative impact on the daily functioning of children and adolescents (e.g., Ollendick, Raishevich, Davis, Sirbu, & Öst, 2010). Comparisons of the FSSC-R-SF subscale scores across the diagnostic groups revealed that the presence of a major anxiety disorder was accompanied by higher levels of 'fear of failure and criticism', 'fear of the unknown', 'fear of danger and death', and 'medical fears' as compared to youths without such anxiety disorders.…”