Culture and the Structure of Children's Fears

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between culture and the structure of children's fears. For the fear dimensions determined, the strength, nature, and clarity of this structure was explored. Items from the Louisville Fear Survey for Children were administered to third-grade Navajo and Anglo children, and obliquely rotated common factor analysis was used to estimate the number and nature of dimensions of fear. Levels of fear by sample were tested with an independent sample t-test on the factor scores generated for the two groups. An independent sample Z-test for proportions was used to compare the proportion of unrealistic fears between the two samples. Chi-square tests of independence were used to examine the association between fear and culture by item. The tests of significance strongly suggest that Navajochildren exhibit higher levels of fear than Anglo children. Factor analysis results suggest the existence of three correlated dimensions of fear as well as a large general factor. The nature of the factors obtained for the combined sample differs from that found in previous fear research. Factor analysis results of the Navajo sample alone suggest some similarity with the factor structure reported in previous fear research. Recommendations are made to incorporate culture as an intervening variable in the diagnosis of fear phobia and to examine further the relationship between culture and the structure of fear in children.