Animal phobias in children: Aetiology assessment and treatment

Typically, animal phobias develop during childhood and persist for many yea rs. 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 revi ew shows some empirical support for Rachman's three pathways theory in rela tion to the aetiology of childhood animal phobias. We also review laborator y investigations of attentional bias, which is considered to play a role in the maintenance of childhood animal phobias. Several clinical assessment p rocedures are outlined: structured diagnostic interviews, fear survey sched ules for children, behavioural avoidance tests, self-monitoring and psychop hysiological recording. Cognitive-behavioural interventions appear to be ef fective in the treatment of animal phobias displayed by children. However, further controlled research must be conducted before we can claim to have r eally clinically efficacious interventions for animal phobic children. Copy right (C) 2000John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.