FEARS OF HISPANIC AND ANGLO CHILDREN - REAL-WORLD FEARS IN THE 1990S

Fears are a common and normal problem of childhood. An abundant litera ture exists concerning the fears of middle-class Anglo children. Only a few studies have investigated fears in children of low socioeconomic status (SES) and of non-Anglo ethnic background In this study, elemen tary-school-age children of Hispanic/Mexican American and Anglo ethnic ity and low to middle-to-upper SES were surveyed as to their fears. Th e children completed the Children's Fear Survey Schedule, which war re vised to include contemporary fear items. Girls reported a higher leve l of fearfulness and more frequent fears than boys did. Low SES childr en in contrast to high SES children, reported more intense and more fr equent fears. Hispanics did not differ from Anglos. The most frequentl y feared items related to danger death, and physical injury. The major ity of the children rated Teal-life contemporary fears of drive-by sho otings, drugs, gangs, and gunshots as very fearful. These findings are discussed with reference to developmental issues and to potential emo tional difficulties.