Fears and related anxieties in children having a disability

Abstract

This study assessed the number of fears, intensity of fears, type of fears and anxieties, and most common fears in children having a disability. In addition, the correlation level between different raters in the assessment of student fears and related anxieties were examined. Data were collected from public schools and evaluated using Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Analysis of Variance, slice effect test, frequency analysis, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Findings from the present study indicated that students with learning disabilities (LD) reported significantly higher total fear score and higher levels of fear in the two factors of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R): fear of failure and criticism and fear of danger and death. In addition, the LD group reported significantly higher overall anxiety level and higher levels of anxiety in all the three subscale scores of Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Results showed that girls reported significantly higher scores than did boys in total fear score, intensity of fears, and two factors of FSSC-R--fear of unknown and fear of injury and small animals. Furthermore, girls in the LD group reported higher total fear score, intensity of fears, and higher levels of fear in all the five factors of FSSC-R than their male counterparts in the same group. On the other hand, girls in the mild mental retardation (MIMR) group reported lower scores in these measures than did their boy counterparts in the same group. Regarding age differences, older students reported significantly higher scores in the fear of failure and criticism. In addition, older students in the MIMR group reported higher levels of total fear score, intensity of fears, fear of the unknown, fear of danger and death, and fear of failure and criticism than their younger counterparts. The 10 most common fears yielded from the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised were mostly in the fear of danger and death factor. The results showed that there were low but significant correlations between child self report and teacher report of the child on most dependent measures examined in the present study.