Differences in the Fears of Elementary School Children in North and South America: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
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Differences in the Fears of Elementary School Children in North and South America: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Joy J. Burnham & Lisa M. Hooper & Heather N. Ogorchock
Published online: 23 September 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract This study compared the fears of North American and South American children in Grades 2–5. Fears were assessed with English and Spanish versions of the American Fear Survey Schedule (FSSC-AM; Burnham 2005). Specific fears and several most common fears differed across the two countries. Overall, the South American children and the girls from both countries had significantly higher fear intensity scores than North American children and the boys. Fear intensity scores also differed significantly across racial backgrounds. Implications for counsellors and directions for future research are considered. Keywords Fear . Children . Adolescents . South American . North American
Introduction In consideration of the expansive fear research from the late 1890s (Hall 1897) to the present (Burnham and Hooper 2008a; Gullone 1999, 2000), a limited number of studies have examined children’s fears across countries (Burkhardt et al. 2003). Nonetheless, crossnational investigations and culturally-relevant fears are important as culture appears preliminarily to influence the presentation, type, and intensity of children’s fears (Burkhardt et al. 2003; Elebedour et al. 1997; Ollendick et al. 1996; Shore and Rapport 1998). Looking across fear research, the 1980s marked the beginning of studies that evaluated children’s fears cross-nationally. Since cross-cultural comparisons across countries add to global information about similarities and differences in the fears of children and adolescents, they warrant closer examination and attention from professionals in the helping fields. Counsellors who work with youth will benefit from this information since few fear studies have been published in counselling journals. A review of what has been evidenced in the literature about children’s fears in diverse cultures and countries is followed by a discussion of the instruments most widely used to J. J. Burnham (*) : L. M. Hooper : H. N. Ogorchock University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Int J Adv Counselling (2011) 33:235–251
assess racially and ethnically diverse children’s fears. Given the dearth of literature on fears in racially diverse populations (in particular in Latino children) and culturally diverse communities (e.g., South America), the present study was directed toward filling this gap. The findings are presented with implications for practice and recommendations for future cross-cultural research.
Examining Fears Across Countries Cross-Cultural Studies From an examination of the established literature on children’s fears, most of the crosscultural fear studies have compared two countries. The comparisons have included: (1) Australia and the U.S. (Burnham and Gullone 1997; Ollendick et al. 1989; Ollendick and King 1991), (2) England and the U.S
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