Animal phobias in children: aetiology, assessment and treatment

Abstract

Typically, animal phobias develop during childhood and persist for many years. The onset of childhood animal phobias is a perplexing theoretical issue. According to Rachman's influential three pathways theory, phobia onset is due to direct conditioning, modelling or instruction/information. Our review shows some empirical support for Rachman's three pathways theory in relation to the aetiology of childhood animal phobias. We also review laboratory investigations of attentional bias, which is considered to play a role in the maintenance of childhood animal phobias. Several clinical assessment procedures are outlined: structured diagnostic interviews, fear survey schedules for children, behavioural avoidance tests, self-monitoring and psychophysiological recording. Cognitive-behavioural interventions appear to be effective in the treatment of animal phobias displayed by children. However, further controlled research must be conducted before we can claim to have really clinically efficacious interventions for animal phobic children. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.