Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-65). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Abstract not available

The purpose of this study was to compare two bibliotherapeutic strategies (audio-only and audio-visual) as a means of reducing the reported fears of young children. Books and audio-visual materials selected for use were based on content related to young children's fears.The following null hypothesis was tested:There is no significant difference between the mean posttest scores on the Children's Fear Survey Schedule for:1. A group of children 3, 4, and 5 years of age in a selected child care center who have received 4 weeks of biweekly sessions of bibliotherapeutic intervention to reduce fears through hearing selected stories read aloud.2. A group of children 3, 4, and 5 years of age in a selected child care center who have received 4 weeks of biweekly sessions of bibliotherapeutic intervention to reduce fears through an audio-visual mode.3. A comparison group of children 3, 4, and 5 years of age in a selected child care received no intervention.The sample numbered 65 children who completed both significantly different, thus a one-way analysis of variance was used to test the hypothesis.Findings1. Results of the posttest (Children's Fear Survey Schedule) indicated a reduction in fear level by children in both bibliotherapeutic intervention strategies.2. The reduction was most notable in the group receiving bibliotherapy through the audio-only mode.3. Differences between the audio-only group and the comparison group were statistically significant at the .05 level of confidence.Children who participated in bibliotherapy through an audio-visual mode also showed a reduction in fear level but not to a significant degree. Children in the comparison group who received no intervention showed an increase in reported fears.Conclusions and RecommendationsIt would appear that there are beneficial effects of reading aloud to children to reduce children's fears. Further study was recommended in the following areas:Development of a more precise instrument, application of the strategies to different age groups, and analysis of results to identify possible differences between gender of subjects.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in reducing the fears of kindergarten children.The experimental design of the study compared three groups using pretest/posttest measures: 1) The Experimental group was an intact class of kindergarten students. The treatment for the group involved reading books on fear related subjects to the students and then having follow-up discussions concerning the book and the children's feelings. The treatment was conducted on a biweekly basis for eight weeks. 2) Control group I was an intact class of kindergarten students. The treatment for the group involved reading books of non-fear related subjects to the students and then having follow-up discussions concerning the book and the children's feelings. The treatment was conducted on a biweekly basis for eight weeks. 3) Control group II represented students from two intact classes of kindergarten students who had the same teacher and had received parental permission to participate in the study. There was no treatment for Control group II. The Experimental group and Control group I were randomly assigned treatment.The Link Children's Fear Scale was administered as a pretest and posttest. The instrument was developed from fifty items which purport to measure children's fears. Factor analysis was employed utilizing principal axes components to estimate the number of factors needed to best explain the total variation in the items. Using squared multiple correlations as initial communality estimates, the principal axes. analysis suggested a two factor solution. An Oblimin rotation was used. Those items which loaded above .30 were selected and retained in the revised instrument. The instrument in its final form consisted of twenty-four items. An example of an item: "Do you like to sleep with a light on?" The response mode was the child's indication yes or no.The factor analysis described above attests to the construct validity of the instrument. Face validity and sampling validity had previously been determined. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was calculated from kindergarten students who did not receive treatment. A reliability coefficient of .70 was obtained.The design for the study attempted to control for all variables other than treatment received. The Experimental group and Control group I were supervised by the same kindergarten teacher. A Reader/Discussion Leader, certificated as an elementary teacher, read the selected books and led the follow-up discussions for the Experimental group and Control group I. The Experimental group and Control group I followed the same procedure of hearing a book read by the Reader/Discussion Leader and then participated in a follow-up discussion of the book, as a part of each treatment session.The hypothesis was stated in the study as follows: There is no difference between the mean adjusted posttest scores of kindergarten students who received bibliotherapy to reduce childhood fears and the mean adjusted posttest scores of kindergarten students who did not receive bibliotherapy, where the means have been adjusted on the basis of the pretest scores.To test the hypothesis an analysis of covariance was used. The pretest served as the covariate and the posttest was the criterion.The analysis showed that the pretests for all groups differed significantly (.001) from the posttests. However, the group effects were not significant at the .05 level, thus indicating no difference between the experimental and control groups. The hypothesis was not rejected.

Thesis (B.Sc.Hons.) -- University of Adelaide, Department of Psychology, 1974.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-51).

Children's fears have been the focus of a great deal of research over the past 10-15 years. Studies have centered on the developmental nature and frequency of children's fears, delineating the essential components of certain fears, as well as evaluating the efficacy of various treatment procedures. The present study examined the effects of three behavioral techniques on children's fear of the dark. Nine children who demonstrated a clinical fear of the dark were seen at a university clinic for two, one-half hour sessions each week over a seven week period, with follow-up assessment occurring one and two months after treatment. The three treatments employed were: symbolic modeling, self-instructional training and contact desensitization. A multiple baseline design across subjects was utilized, with dependent measures consisting of the motoric, cognitive, and physiological components of each child's fear and parent data were collected. Significant changes in dark tolerance between baseline and treatment were most consistently observed in those children receiving the symbolic modeling procedure. The next condition yielding the most consistent changes in duration between baseline and treatment was the contact desensitization treatment. No appreciable changes were found in the children in the self-instructional condition. The self-report and heart rate measures failed to demonstrate strong, reliable changes for any subject in the study except for one subject whose heart rate significantly increased after intervention. Examination of parent data yielded inconsistent results across conditions, thereby limiting any conclusions regarding generalization. The results were discussed in relation to the literature on fear reduction techniques. Limitations of the present study were discussed and topics for future research were delineated.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

"This paper reports the results of an investigation into the relation of the emotion of fear and learning. Purposes of the investigation were: 1. To bring together some of the literature in education and psychology that deals with fear and learning. 2. To study the fears of elementary school pupils. 3. To make recommendations on the basis of purpose one and purpose two that might be useful to school teachers"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1956." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Marian Black, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 24-26).

Children, over the course of development, experience numerous situations capable of eliciting fear; however, the behaviours which children exhibit in these situations remain unclear. The investigation presented here pursued the question "how do young children express fear in a non-painful medical situation where they perceive threat from physical harm?". It is important to note that this study differentiated between fear and anxiety, however it did not examine differences between these two emotions. 116 children, between the ages of 12 and 87 months, and their parents participated in the study. Children's fine-grained behavioural responses, (i.e., facial activity) and broader behavioural displays (e.g., crying, protective behaviours) were examined during a fearful situation. The specific threat used to provoke fear was orthopedic cast removal with an oscillating saw. Few people, including adults, who have had a cast removed would challenge the notion that the oscillating saw can effectively elicit fear. Facial activity was measured with the Baby-FACS coding system and global behaviours were assessed with the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress. Results demonstrated the existence of a constellation of facial actions and a group of more global behaviours indicative of fear in young children. The facial actions and global behaviours identified in the total sample were examined on a subset of the children who were rated as displaying clinically significant fear. The same 13 facial actions were found to cluster together in the sample of children displaying clinically significant fear. Further, global behaviours occurred with a higher frequency in this sub-sample. Age and cast location were found to predict children's fear for both classes of behaviour in that younger children and children with casts on their legs had higher facial action factor scores and OSBD scale scores than older children or those with arm casts. Finally, facial activity and global behaviours appeared to be valid measures of fear as they were both correlated to an independent observer's and the cast technician's ratings of fear. Results are discussed in relation to current theories of emotional development and implications for clinical applications are reviewed.