THE ROLE OF PARENTAL FEARFULNESS AND MODELING IN CHILDRENS FEAR

The present study investigated the contribution of parental modeling t o the fearfulness of children. Forty children (aged 9-12) who were ref erred to an outpatient treatment centre filled out the trait version o f the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) a nd the revised version of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC) . The parents of the children completed adult versions of the STAI-tra it and the FSS. In addition, parents rated to what extent they general ly expressed fears to their children. Results showed that trait anxiet y in children was positively associated with trait anxiety of both the mother (r = 0.34, P < 0.05) and the father (r = 0.31, P < 0.05). Fear fulness of the children was only related to fearfulness of the mother (r = 0.56, P < 0.001). Most importantly, the data showed that modeling played a role in this relationship. A linear association between FSSC scores and mothers' rating of expressing fears to their children was found. That is to say, children of mothers who never expressed their f ears had the lowest FSSC scores, children of mothers who often express ed their fears had the highest FSSC scores, whereas children of mother s who sometimes expressed their fears scored in between.