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Temperamental and parental correlates of childhood fears
Abstract
This research simultaneously examined the influence of parent temperament, child temperament, parenting style, and parent fears on child fears. Secondary analyses addressed the relationships between mother-father ratings and parent-child ratings of child fears. 890 children, classified as preschool, primary elementary, upper elementary, and junior high students, provided self-ratings on the Louisville Fear Survey for Children-Revised. Self-ratings of temperament dimensions, parenting style, and fears and child ratings of temperament dimensions and fears were obtained from each child's mother and/or father. Multiple regression analyses were then conducted with mother and father ratings as separate independent variables and child fear factors (n = 3) as the dependent variables. Analyses were conducted separately for each of the four groups of the children, followed by identical analyses in which sex of the child was taken into account. Pearson Product Moment correlations were calculated for mother-father ratings and parent-child ratings of child fear factors to assess rater agreement. Results of the multiple regression analyses revealed a general trend for stronger associations as a function of increased child maturity level, although all resulting equations varied as a function of child maturity, child gender, and parent gender. With the exception of fairly high relationships between junior high self-ratings of fear factors and parent ratings of temperament dimensions, child temperament dimensions, and parent fear factors, the remaining associations failed to account for clinically significant amounts of the total variance in child fear factor scores. Correlational analyses also revealed a trend for higher agreement as a function of increased child maturity level as well as overall higher correspondence between mother-father ratings than between mother-child and father-child ratings. Lower parent-child agreement appeared related to both mothers and fathers underestimating the level of child fears associated with physical injury, while overestimating psychic injury fears.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Pilkington, Cynthia Lyanne, "Temperamental and parental correlates of childhood fears" (1988). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8904504.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8904504