Diagnosis of fears in preschoolers: methods, advice for parents

In modern life, adverse events can easily harm the psyche of children. They develop fears. The diagnosis of children's fears allows us to timely identify the problem and get rid of it.

Childhood fears

Unidentified fear can have both hidden and extreme forms of expression, characterized by a protracted course. All this affects the development of personality, the formation of character and the determination of social roles.

The origin of fears in preschoolers

For various reasons, preschool children become the most susceptible to adverse factors. The number of children with signs of emotional distress is increasing. They become excitable, anxious or aggressive.

The origin of fears can be different. Some of them are observed due to problems and difficulties in the preschooler’s relationship with his parents or with peers. Others may be related to personal experiences. Psychologists believe that the formation of phobic disorders has 2 main theories of origin, which unite all the causes of occurrence.

The first theory is a traumatic factor, the second is a consequence of the threat of repetition of this factor. The characteristics of the mental development of children depend on the reality of the threat after experiencing stressful situations, which resulted in the formation of a fear of a certain stimulus. Affectively heightened perception of danger is part of the defense mechanism. Those children who suffer from fears change their own behavior and react differently emotionally.

Immunity to fears, that is, the absence of an impact on the psyche, is observed very rarely. Psychologists are sure that this is unnatural for the normal development of children. Such problems may indicate problems with expressing emotions, excessive excitability, and even weak self-preservation instincts.

Overcoming childhood fears

The correctional work of a psychologist is carried out in several directions: - counseling; — lectures and seminars (for parents, teachers); — poster material for parents and information leaflets for teachers.

Work on correcting fears takes place in several stages: Stage 1 – acceptance of applications by a psychologist from parents or educators to diagnose fears in a child. Stage 2 – the psychologist works with children and their parents based on appropriate techniques. Stage 3 – discussion of the child’s diagnostic results with the teacher and parents. At this stage, ways of working together to solve the identified problems are outlined.

Stage 4 – conducting correctional classes with the child. Stage 5 – re-diagnosis of the child’s fears, the results of which are also discussed with the teacher and parents.

Three main directions in correctional work with anxious children: 1. Increasing self-esteem (exercise “Praises”, “Why Mom Loves Me”). 2. Training in ways to relieve emotional and muscle tension (sand techniques, drawing and sculpting, massage). 3. Practicing self-control skills in traumatic situations (role-playing games: fear and anxiety should be brought to the point of absurdity, the child should receive the roles of strong personalities, the roles of heroes overcoming difficulties).

Game therapy. Most effective when working with children 4-7 years old. Goals: respond emotionally to tension; role modeling of problem solving. The game allows you to experience life’s circumstances in a conditional, weakened form; strengthen self-confidence. A) outdoor games are used, where the child’s activity, independence, and initiative are demonstrated. b) imitation games, when the child chooses a role that compensates for his capabilities; allow you to develop skills in managing emotions and making decisions. c) dramatization games help overcome fear resulting from fright.

Art therapy. Effective at the age of 5-11 years, when children have no barriers, they draw naturally and spontaneously. Goals: to give vent to feelings, to restructure the attitude towards traumatic situations. Directed drawing is used: 1) the child draws his fear; 2) the child draws his fear and next to himself, not afraid of fear; 3) the child independently destroys his drawing.

Features of fears in preschoolers

The emergence of fears is directly related to the pathogenesis of the development of neuroses in children and adolescents. It is important to understand the features of their diagnosis. Assessing the actions of irritating factors, as well as the influence of these processes on the formation of personality, will help bring the psyche back to normal. Without knowledge about the age-related dynamics of such problems, the correction of fears will not be effective. It is also important that the appearance of phobic disorders is characterized differently in boys and girls.

Psychologist A.I. Zakharov in his works pointed out the following features of the development of anxiety in preschool children:

Fears occur more often in girls than in boys between the ages of 3 and 15 years.
Girls and boys have different natures and directions of fears.
Boys hide their own anxiety about fears more than girls.

A favorable attitude towards children from parents and social groups and other signs of normalization of life circumstances can lead to them overcoming their fears on their own. Problems disappear with age, but not always. Some are subject to difficulties in personal development, have difficulty adapting, or experience neurotic disorders.

A. Zakharov proposed a system for distributing fears by gender and year, enclosing them in certain characteristics. In total, the scientist’s work described 28 variants of phobias. More than half of them are allocated for preschoolers.

Fears of adolescents and their conditioning by anxiety, neuroticism and aggressiveness

Shkuratova I.P., Ermak V.V.

Published in the collection: “Applied psychology: achievements and prospects.” Rostov-on-Don, Foliot, 2004, p.283-299.

Humanity, having entered the third millennium, along with unprecedented achievements in the field of technological progress, has acquired new sources of fear for its existence. If the last century passed under the threat of nuclear war, which was still hypothetical, then the fear of terrorism, AIDS and other new diseases has a very real basis. Not a single person, regardless of age and social status, is immune from becoming a victim of another terrorist attack that occurs on the planet almost every day.

In our country, these anxieties are supplemented by fears associated with the economic insecurity of the majority of the population, as well as with the criminal situation in the country. Children and adolescents, due to their emotional sensitivity, experience all these fears with particular force, which, superimposed on traditional childhood phobias, can lead to serious disturbances in their emotional sphere, including neurotic disorders. In this regard, the study of children's and adolescent fears, as well as personal factors that predispose to them, seems to us to be an urgent and practically significant psychological problem. Fears have long been the object of psychological research. Fear is most often defined as an emotional state that occurs in the presence or anticipation of a dangerous or harmful stimulus (3).

K. Izard noted that fear is experienced as an anxious presentiment, anxiety, and apprehension. A person has a feeling that the situation is no longer under control, he experiences more and more uncertainty about his own well-being, fear is experienced as a feeling of absolute insecurity and uncertainty about his own safety (6). In his opinion, the causes of fear can be divided into four classes: a ) external events or processes, b) drives and needs, c) emotions, d) cognitive processes of the subject. Fears belonging to each of these classes can be congenital or acquired (6).

In his work on the psychopathology of neuroses, A. Kempinski describes four types of fear: biological, social, moral and disintegration (9). Biological fear is associated with a threat to one's own life or the life of a species. Public fear arises when contacts in the social sphere are disrupted. Moral fear arises when an individual does not accept the norms offered by others as guidelines for his own behavior. Disintegration fear appears with every change in the structure of information metabolism.

A.I. Zakharov contrasts situational and personally conditioned fears. In his opinion, situational fear arises in a dangerous or shocking environment, and personality-based fear is predetermined by a person’s character, for example, his anxiety. Situational fears are real and acute, while personal fears are imaginary and chronic (4).

T.V. Abakumova offers several criteria for classifying fears: a) objective sources of fear (biological, man-made, planetary and cosmic fears); b) lack of ideas about the completeness and integrity of the surrounding reality (social and children's fears); c) ontological (religious, existential, fear of death); d) epistemological (fears from excess information) (1).

Many fears remain strong and can manifest themselves throughout a person’s life, from infancy to old age. At the same time, each age stage of development has its own specific experience and manifestation of fears. Studies by various authors have identified a number of fears typical of childhood and adolescence, although they are determined by cultural and national factors.

In children under 5-7 years of age, the most common fears are the dark, imaginary creatures, evil fairy tale characters, and animals. For younger schoolchildren, the fear of punishment and reproach from adults, the fear of strangers, death, and illness come to the fore. Teenagers are most afraid of ridicule, their own failures, illness and death of parents or loved ones (3). In the works of A.I. Zakharov (4, 5) indicates that in older preschool age children are especially sensitive to the threat of illness, misfortune, and death. Fear of death appears as an affectively sharpened expression of the instinct of self-preservation.

Research by A.I. Zakharov show that at primary school age, fear associated with school was most pronounced, and it was concretized mainly in the fear of being late for school, which was most typical for girls (5). During the same period, magical fears, fear of misfortune, and misfortune turned out to be expressed. In adolescence, all girls participating in the survey showed a fear of the death of their parents. By the age of 15, interpersonal and other social fears reach their greatest peak, such as fear of loneliness, fear of doing something wrong, of certain people, ridicule, condemnation from peers and adults, fear of not being able to cope with the assigned task (5).

In a dissertation study of the fears of junior schoolchildren, L.S. Hakobyan shows that children, when describing fears in the spatio-temporal dimension, consider the street to be the most dangerous place, and the house to be the safest. In the time dimension, fear of animals prevailed in the past; in the present, educational fears prevailed (3).

In a large study conducted by A.M. Parishioners devoted to studying the content of schoolchildren's fears obtained interesting results related to the dynamics of fear (13). At the first stage of the study (from 1979 to 1982), all schoolchildren, regardless of gender, had fears focused on school problems among elementary school students, on relationships with peers among adolescents, and on problems associated with relationships with adults and fear of personal failure among high school students. . At the second stage of the study (from 1989 to 1992), gender differences were revealed at almost all ages. For girls of all ages, family problems were the top priority: fears of death, illness, negative experiences of parents. In boys during this period, the fear of global catastrophes prevailed; in adolescence, the fear of physical violence was especially high. At the third stage of the study (from 1996 to 1997), the severity of “archaic” and “magical” fears among schoolchildren increased. The fear of physical violence has acquired both a social and vital character (13).

An analysis of studies of childhood and adolescent fears allows us to conclude that the bulk of the fears experienced are formed in childhood, but at the same time, each age stage of development is characterized by the manifestation of certain types of fear.

One of the areas of studying fears is the study of personal and situational factors that determine their occurrence. Anxiety, neuroticism and aggressiveness are most often considered as personal determinants of fear.

The concepts of anxiety and fear have not been differentiated for a long time. According to A.M. Prikhozhan, S. Kierkegaard was the first to distinguish between them at the beginning of the 19th century, who understood fear as the fear of something specific, and associated anxiety with an indefinite, unaccountable fear-longing (13). In turn, many authors distinguish anxiety as an emotional state from anxiety as a stable personal property.

In his works, S. Freud distinguished between two types of anxiety: objective and neurotic (16). Objective anxiety is, in fact, synonymous with fear. It arises when there is a real situation of danger for an individual in the outside world. This situation is perceived by him as threatening, and the perception of danger gives rise to an emotional reaction proportional to the intensity of the external danger. Neurotic anxiety differs from objective anxiety in that the source of danger is located in the internal rather than in the external world. The source of this anxiety, from his point of view, is sexual and aggressive drives that were suppressed in childhood (16).

Ch. Spielberger separates anxiety as a state and anxiety as a personality trait. He believes that anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state or internal condition, which is characterized by subjective feelings of tension, anxiety, and gloomy forebodings. A state of anxiety occurs when an individual perceives a certain stimulus or situation as containing actual or potential elements of danger, threat, or harm. Anxiety as a property is a relatively stable personality characteristic. It does not manifest itself directly in every act of behavior, but its level can be determined by how often and how intensely an individual experiences anxiety states. A person with severe anxiety tends to perceive the world around him as containing threat and danger to a much greater extent than a person with a low level of anxiety (15).

In the works of V.S. Merlin considers anxiety as one of the properties of temperament. The author understands anxiety as a person’s tendency to experience a variety of situations as threatening him in some way and at the same time to experience vague fear and anxiety directed at some object or phenomenon (11).

All authors are inclined to believe that there is a positive relationship between the tendency to experience fears and anxiety, but it is not always possible to predict the likelihood of the emotion of fear in a specific life situation based on knowledge of a person’s anxiety level in a specific life situation, since other personal and situational determinants also play a large role here. .

Neuroticism, considered by G. Eysenck as one of the most important determinants of human behavior, is also one of the personality traits associated with a tendency to perceive a situation as threatening. A high level of neuroticism is characterized by emotional instability, anxiety, low self-esteem, and autonomic disorders, so it can also be a predictor of fear (2).

The relationship between aggressiveness and fear is more complex. Firstly, they consist in a relationship of mutual determination, i.e. Aggression can cause different forms of fear, and fear can provoke aggressive behavior. Secondly, there are different forms of aggressiveness associated with the formation of fears by various psychological mechanisms. A. Bass, together with A. Darkey, identifies several types of reactions that characterize the manifestation of aggressiveness and hostility (14). Physical aggression is the use of physical force against another person. Indirect aggression is not explicit, directed in a roundabout way at another person. Irritation is a readiness to express negative feelings with little arousal. Negativism is an oppositional behavior from passive resistance to active struggle against established rules and customs. Resentment is envy and hatred of others for real or fictitious actions. Suspicion is a wary attitude towards others, ranging from mistrust and caution to the belief that they are planning and causing harm. Verbal aggression is the expression of negative feelings both through form (screaming) and through the content of verbal responses (curses, threats). The feeling of guilt expresses the subject’s conviction that he is a bad person, that he causes evil, and therefore the person is troubled by remorse.

K. Izard and other emotion researchers note the existence of connections between anger and fear (6). According to Ya.Yu Kopeiko, the connection between aggressive behavior and the level of anxiety in men is positive, and in women it is negative. The author explains this by the fact that the aggressive behavior of men is more direct in nature and is caused by the controlling function of the superego. In women, aggressive behavior is some defense mechanism more related to ego strength-weakness (7).

A. Kempinski believes that sometimes anxiety is concentrated on some minor difficulties and conflicts, which, starting to grow, turn into a huge problem, at the same time inciting aggression. In this regard, fear and aggression often appear together (9).

To summarize this short review of research on fear, we can say that, despite the large number of studies of anxiety and fear in foreign and domestic psychology, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the degree of expression of various fears in adolescents, as well as their personal conditionality.

In this regard, the purpose of this work was to study the fears of adolescents and their conditioning by anxiety, neuroticism and aggressiveness. This goal was specified by solving the following tasks:

a) explore the severity of different types of fear in adolescents;

b) identify the age dynamics of fears in boys and girls;

c) study gender differences in the severity of different types of fear in adolescents;

d) analyze the influence of anxiety, neuroticism and aggressiveness on the severity of fears in adolescents.

To diagnose fears, we used the “Types of Fear” questionnaire developed by I.P. Shkuratova. It contains thirty-six factors that cause the experience of fear. All these factors are grouped into five groups: a) phobias, b) educational fears, c) social fears, d) criminal fears, e) mystical fears. The subject must evaluate how much this factor provokes a feeling of fear in him, using a scale from 0 to 4 points:

I have never had such fear;
I had such a fear once;
I had this fear several times;
From time to time I have such fear;
This fear haunts me constantly.

To identify the age-related dynamics of fears, the “Free Description of Fears” (SOS) method developed by I.P. Shkuratova and V.V. Ermak. In it, subjects were asked to freely describe their fears in three time dimensions: in the past, present and future. The subject answered the following questions: What was I afraid of when I was little? What am I afraid of now? What am I afraid of in the future?

Processing was carried out using content analysis of responses by assigning each fear to one of the five above groups.

To diagnose anxiety, the “Personal Anxiety Scale for Students” developed by A.M. Prikhozhan (13) was used. It has the following anxiety subscales: general, school, interpersonal, self-esteem and magical. The respondent evaluates each of the 40 items according to the degree of characteristic for themselves on a scale from 0 to 4 (maximum similarity).

The level of neuroticism was determined using the G. Eysenck questionnaire. To diagnose aggressiveness, the Bassa-Darki method “Diagnostics of the state of aggression in adolescents” was used (14). The questionnaire is aimed at studying aggression in high school students. It consists of 8 scales characterizing various manifestations of aggressiveness and hostility.

The subjects of the study were 60 11th grade students (30 boys and 30 girls).

Analysis of results.

The first objective of this work was to investigate the severity of various fears among high school students. The total values for the groups of boys and girls using the “Types of Fear” method are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Table of the severity of fears in boys and girls

№

Types of fears	youth	dev.
1	Fear of the dark	30	53
2	Fear of being challenged to answer in class	59	69
3	Fear of losing love from loved ones	26	33
4	Fear of physical violence	46	42
5	Fear of being a hostage in the hands of bandits	16	26
6	Fear of heights	49	54
7	Fear of being ridiculed by the class	23	38
8	Fear of betrayal from friends	48	63
9	Fear of not living up to the trust of loved ones	44	52
10	Fear of otherworldly forces	23	45
11	Fear of animals	33	68
12	Fear of getting a bad grade	62	67
13	Fear of being ridiculed by friends or family	35	32
14	Fear of being in a crowd in a moment of panic	26	42
15	Fear of the evil eye or damage	35	45
16	Fear of enclosed spaces	17	37
17	Fear of getting into a traffic accident	44	55
18	Fear of being called to the director	28	31
19	Fear of looking funny or pathetic	34	46
20	Fear of God	36	39
21	Fear of flying on airplanes	11	12
22	Fear of being different from other students	16	24
23	Fear of being caught in a lie	51	46
24	Fear of rides	21	34
25	Fear of being robbed on the street	40	34
26	Fear of illness	51	68
27	Fear of being kicked out of class	11	8
28	Fear of medical procedures	58	78
29	Fear of criticism from loved ones	47	50
30	Fear of death of loved ones	78	90
31	Fear of loneliness	28	61
32	Fear of own death	32	59
33	Fear of calling parents to school	59	53
34	Fear of punishment from parents for poor performance	42	49
35	Fear of sexual violence	9	62
36	Fear of terrorist bombing	39	56

As can be seen from Table No. 1, the most pronounced fear among adolescents was the death of loved ones (78 points for boys and 90 points for girls). Surprising is the fact that the possibility of their own death frightens them much less (32 points for boys and 59 for girls). Obviously, this can be explained by the fact that adolescents consider this an unlikely event for themselves, as well as the action of defense mechanisms. The next most pronounced group of educational fears among young men is: fear of getting a bad grade (62 points); fear of being called to answer at the blackboard (59 points), fear of calling parents to school (59 points). For girls, the top five included fear of medical procedures (78 points), fear of illness (68 points), fear of animals (68 points), fear of answering at the blackboard (69 points) and fear of getting a bad grade (67 points). Since the magnitude of fear is determined by the magnitude of the negative consequences of a frightening event for the individual and its likelihood, it can be assumed that these fears are chronic and pronounced in adolescents. It is especially depressing that such an everyday action as answering at the blackboard is associated with such strong fear among schoolchildren of both sexes that it outstrips even the fear of physical violence. At the same time, this indicates a very high degree of infantilism among high school students, for whom school problems seem worse than real threats outside of school.

Judging by the data, schoolchildren are not very afraid of the possibility of being robbed on the street, being subjected to physical violence, or being held hostage in the hands of bandits. For boys, the fear of sexual violence was the least characteristic in our study (only 9 points), but for girls it is very relevant (62 points). This once again demonstrates the probabilistic nature of the fears experienced. For a general analysis of fears, they were all grouped depending on the source according to the following key: phobias: points 1,6,11,16,17,21,24,26,28,30; learning fears: 2,7,12,18,22,27,33,34; social fears: 3,9,13,8,19,29,23,31; criminal fears: 4,5,14,25,35,36; mystical fears: 10,15,20,32. Since the fear groups included different numbers of items, group averages were calculated to compare them (see Table 2).

Table 2. Table of average values for the severity of fears

Scale	Boys	Girls	Total
Phobias	13	18,3	15,7
Educational	10	11	10,7
Social	10,4	12,5	11,5
Criminal	5,9	8,7	7,3
Mystical	4,1	6,3	5,2

Phobias are most pronounced among high school students, especially among girls. Second place is shared by educational and social fears, in third place are criminal fears, and mystical fears close the row.

Evidence suggests that girls are more prone to experience all types of fear. These differences are the result of differences in the upbringing of girls and boys. Traditionally, young men are taught from childhood that they should not be afraid of all kinds of objects and phenomena, or at least not admit to their own fears. At the same time, girls are allowed to show weakness and seek protection from male representatives.

To identify the age-related dynamics of fears, subjects were asked about the fears that they experienced in the past, the most pronounced ones at the present time, and what they fear in the future. The processing of the “SOS” technique was carried out using content analysis using the same scales as in the previous technique (see Table 3).

Table 3.

Frequency analysis of types of fear in the past, present and future

Types of fears	Past		The present		Future
Types of fears	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
Phobias	51	49	15	28	2	5
Educational	4	7	22	23	12	10
Social	7	10	16	16	26	39
Criminal	3	0	1	1	0	0
Mystical	9	11	2	5	4	9

The data presented in Table 3 show that childhood is represented mainly by phobias, which decrease with age. Schoolchildren believe that in the future they will generally be free from phobias (fear of the dark, heights, illness, etc.). On the contrary, social fears associated with relationships with other people are growing, and adolescents believe that in the future these fears will come to the fore. Study anxiety is at its peak these days, which is understandable. Teenagers clearly underestimate the criminal situation in the country, not expressing any concern about the possibility of becoming a victim of the criminal behavior of other people. Much more often (especially girls) they note the presence of mystical fears associated with otherworldly forces.

The next objective of our study was to study the influence of anxiety and neuroticism on the severity of fears in high school students. For this purpose, schoolchildren’s anxiety was diagnosed using the “Personal Anxiety Scale for Students” method by A.M. Prikhozhan and neuroticism using the G. Eysenck questionnaire. Then a correlation analysis was carried out on the indicators of anxiety, neuroticism and the severity of fears for the entire sample as a whole. The results of the analysis are presented in Fig. 1.

Rice. 1. Scheme of significant connections between indicators of anxiety and neuroticism with different types of fear. The data indicate the presence of a large number of connections between all types of fears and scales of personal anxiety, which confirms the data of other authors that anxiety as a personal property predisposes a person to experience anxiety about possible physical and social threatening events. The highest correlations are observed between social fears and interpersonal and self-esteem anxiety, between mystical fears and magical anxiety. This indicates that there is a certain thematic dominance of fears and anxiety. If a person is more concerned about his interpersonal relationships, then he is more likely to have fears associated with these relationships (for example, fear of criticism from close people). Although, along with this, there is also a generalized influence of anxiety on the tendency to experience fears for various reasons. All other things being equal, in the same situation, an anxious person will experience more anxiety than a person with a low level of anxiety. But it would be wrong to think that anxiety is harmful, because anxiety forces a person to take measures in advance to prevent a threat, which can save his life. The neuroticism scale according to G. Eysenck’s method also gave significant correlations with different types of fears. Neuroticism is most closely associated with social fears and phobias, as well as with criminal and mystical fears. Neuroticism creates fertile ground for the emergence of various fears. And if a person’s anxiety and neuroticism have very high values, then this person is an accentuated personality of the anxious type. K. Leongard writes that children with an anxious-fearful temperament are afraid to fall asleep in the dark, tremble before a thunderstorm, and are afraid of dogs. As they grow up, they show timidity and submissiveness because they are afraid of the people around them (10). In this regard, it should be noted that school psychologists should identify children with a large number of fears and correct their behavior. The next goal of our work was to study the influence of different forms of aggressiveness on the tendency to experience fear. To determine the level of aggressiveness, we used the Bassa-Darki method “Diagnostics of the state of aggression in adolescents.” As a result, we obtained data on eight forms of aggression: physical aggression, indirect aggression, irritation, negativism, resentment, suspicion, verbal aggression, and guilt. Correlation analysis of indicators of aggressiveness and types of fear made it possible to establish significant connections between them, which are presented in Fig. 2. Fig.2. Significant connections between forms of aggressiveness and types of fears. The greatest correlation was given by such a form of aggressiveness as guilt. The largest correlation is observed between feelings of guilt and mystical fears. This relationship, in our opinion, is natural. The remorse felt when experiencing feelings of guilt prompts a person to think about punishment for what he has done. A person primarily expects this punishment from otherworldly forces, from whom one cannot hide anything. Therefore, the fear of God, who knows our every step on earth, is experienced most of all by people prone to self-accusation.

Feelings of guilt are positively correlated with social fears. When a person experiences feelings of guilt, a conviction arises that he is bad and unworthy; he feels remorse, which can lead to an increase in social fears. The presence of a positive connection between feelings of guilt and criminal fears can be explained by the effect of projection. A person who imagines his own possible aggressive actions, or has committed such in reality, has more reason to fear that other people are also harboring aggressive plans towards him. He may generally believe that all people are evil and aggressive.

Irritation and social fears are positively correlated. In this case, it is difficult to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between them, i.e. irritation causes social fears or, conversely, the presence of social fears provokes irritation. Most likely, there is a mutual reinforcement of these phenomena here. For example, a person who is afraid of looking funny will react more irritably to jokes directed at him, which will most likely lead to greater conflict in his relationships with others and strengthen his social fears.

A positive correlation is provided by the relationship between suspicion and mystical fears. Suspicion as a manifestation of aggressiveness is associated with distrust and caution towards people. Suspicious people can expect that their acquaintances want to harm them, including through mystical techniques (witchcraft, the evil eye, etc.). Suspicion and mystical fears are united by the fact that in both cases the imagination is activated.

The only negative relationship was found between physical aggression and phobias, which is easily explained. As noted above, people with phobias are more prone to display timidity and shyness, which is not compatible with the use of gross physical aggression. Summarizing the results of the study, a number of conclusions can be drawn.

The degree of expression of a particular fear is determined by the size of the consequences of a threatening event, an assessment of its significance for the individual, and most importantly, the likelihood of its implementation. All types of fear are more pronounced in girls compared to boys.
The age-related dynamics of the content of fears from childhood to adulthood is accompanied by a decrease in phobias and an increase in social fears.
Anxiety and neuroticism have a great influence on the emergence of different types of fear in an individual.
Hidden forms of aggressiveness (guilt, irritation, suspicion) contribute more to the experience of fears among high school students.
The methods used in the work for diagnosing fears can be used in the practical work of school psychologists.

Literature

Abakumova T.V. Classification of the main types of fear in modern society // Social psychology: dialogue St. Petersburg - Yakutsk - St. Petersburg, 2002, pp. 133-140.
Eysenck G. Personality structure. - St. Petersburg, 1999.
Akopyan L.S. Psychological and pedagogical study of the fears of children of primary school age. dis. ...cand. psychol. Sci. - Samara, 2002.
Zakharov A.I. How to help our children get rid of fear. - St. Petersburg, 1995.
Zakharov A.I. Neuroses in children and psychotherapy. - St. Petersburg, 2000.
Izard K. Human Emotions. - M., 1980.
Ilyin E.P. Differential psychophysiology of men and women. - St. Petersburg, 2002.
Kempinski A. Psychopathology of neuroses. - Warsaw, 1975.
Leongard K. Accented personalities. - Kyiv, 1989.
Merlin V.S. Problems of experimental personality psychology. -Perm.1970.
May R. The problem of anxiety. – M., 2001.
Prikhozhan A.M. Anxiety in children and adolescents: psychological nature and age dynamics. - M., 2000.
Rogov E.I. Handbook for a practical psychologist. - M., 1999.
Spielberger Ch. Conceptual and methodological problems in the study of anxiety. // Anxiety and anxiety. - St. Petersburg, 2001.
Freud Z. Psychoanalysis of childhood neuroses. - M., 1997.

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Common types of fears in children

Zakharov’s theories about the peculiarities of the formation of phobic disorders in children are still used by specialists today. According to his classification, preschoolers are classified with 12 to 15 different types of fear. The most common ones are:

fear of parental death;
fear of strangers;
fear of the dark;
night terrors;
fear of water, fire or heights;
fears of cats, dogs or other animals.

No less common are fear of parents, fear of being punished, or fear of doctors and injections. There are many options. A qualified specialist, when starting to correct the fears of preschool children, is obliged to study the clinical picture of the patient.

Night terrors in children

The work involves the use of special techniques, the objectives of which are based on creating a trusting relationship with the patient with inherent emotional contact.

To identify fears, it is important to use a ready-made, proven diagnostic model using special questionnaires or games.

"Working tool for a teenage psychologist"

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Age stages of fear formation

Scientists have proven that the occurrence of fears depends on the age of children, as well as the level of mental development. The appearance of deviations in developmental characteristics is a consequence of the emotional sensitivity and suspiciousness of children. Parents also have an influence, who can, with anxiety and overprotection, cause fear of imaginary or real stimuli. This is especially true for girls.

From birth, fear manifests itself at the level of instincts. Under the influence of the surrounding world, he can transform with the perception of “one’s own” and “alien”, “bad” and “evil”, etc. Growing up, children become less dependent on instincts, and their fears become more real, having a certain basis.

Fears in newborns

In newborns, the definition of fears is complicated by developmental features. Scientists are confident that certain signs can only be detected from the age of seven months. The types of anxiety themselves are more often associated with a defense mechanism that manifests itself at the instinctive level:

fear of a large object approaching;
fear of loud noises;
fear of bright light.

During the first year of life, these fears disappear. The child develops a feeling of attachment to his mother, and he is already afraid of losing sight of her. This phenomenon is a consequence of the emergence of an emotional attachment to the mother. In the normal course of life, a newborn gradually outgrows such a problem, increasingly letting go of a loved one from himself.

The child is afraid of strangers

From 8 months of age, a fear of strangers develops. It is associated with an understanding of the principles of “one’s own” and “someone else’s.” Noticing strangers, the child finds signs of their difference from their mother or father. Signs of emerging problems may include:

poor sleep;
moodiness;
excitability;
anxiety;
instability of mood.

This affects the formation of personal qualities, adaptive functions and the establishment of character. It is important to provide the child with the most favorable living conditions, to relieve him of stress, long trips, moving, etc.

2-3 years of life

From the second year, children experience less unconscious fear. They begin to actively explore the world, gaining their first life experience. The emergence of fears may be a consequence of these processes. Children at this age may be afraid of:

sharp sounds;
pain;
heights;
to be left alone.

In the third year of life, children begin to more actively perceive information from their parents. They develop a sense of responsibility for their own actions. Three-year-olds develop a fear of punishment.

Cases of aggression from animals are often affected, which can also cause disorders. This is especially true for dogs. During this period, it is important that children learn to express their thoughts and share their experiences with their parents. The task of adults is related to providing timely assistance to their own, even if some fears are imaginary.

3-5 years of life

Starting from the age of three, the number of fears in children begins to increase. Life in the modern world has its advantages and disadvantages, which the brain activity of children is not able to soberly assess. In the period from 3 to 5 years, the emergence of fears is directly related to the surrounding world and the actions of parents, who are overly concerned or principled. Most often, children of this age are afraid of:

pain;
water;
confined space;
loneliness;
transport;
characters from books, films, etc.

From the age of 5-6, a child begins to understand that he is growing up, just like the close people around him. He may be afraid of both his own death and the loss of his loved ones. Awareness of space and time and the irreversibility of the consequences of these processes can cause the emergence of fear of death.

Fears in older preschoolers

The emergence of fears in children of older preschool age often feeds strength due to the awareness of the social role under the influence of the situation in the family. Various conflicts, illnesses, forced changes in kindergarten, etc., increase the feeling of fear, making it more acute and unpredictable.

Older preschoolers can also feel the first “fruits” of determining their role in society. The first contacts with peers, emotional attachment and feelings of disgust towards aggressive children shape the perception of the world. Some parents do not control their children's free time, allowing them to play computer games, watch films with scenes of violence, etc. This can also cause fears to arise.

Fear concept

The concept of fear has been developed by many researchers and therefore has different interpretations. The issue of childhood fear has a long history in psychological science. S. Hall, as a representative of the biogenetic trend, extended the biogenetic law to the ontogeny of fear. He stated that the child experiences, during his development, the fears that animals, and then people, experienced at different stages of anthropogenesis.

A detailed study of the phenomenon of fear in childhood was carried out within the boundaries of psychoanalysis. 3. Freud believed that fear is an affect that appears in a subjective situation of displeasure, which (displeasure) cannot be dealt with by discharge through the pleasure principle. This situation is caused by a dangerous situation, and fear can be both its direct result and an anticipation of its possible repetition

Definition 1

Fear is an internal state caused by a threatening real or perceived disaster. From a psychological point of view, it is considered a negatively colored process in the emotional sphere.

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Definition 2

Children's fears are children's emotional reactions to a situation of threat (imaginary or real) or to an object that is dangerous in children's understanding, which they experience as discomfort, a desire to hide or run away.

The primary emotion of fear is already observed in newborn children. Afterwards, fears are socialized and appear as reactions to new situations and objects. The consolidation of primary fear in the emotional sphere of children expands the zone of their social fears and increases sensitivity to carriers of the threat. Children's fears are formed due to a lack of warmth and acceptance from parents, when children do not feel safe. Such children often develop a fear of school. Children's fears can be expressed in neurotic reactions and psychosomatic disorders.

Children's fears are caused by age-related developmental characteristics and are temporary. Understanding the reasons for the formation of children's fears helps to resolve them.

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Basic methods for diagnosing fears

Diagnosis of fears is based on various methods of interaction with the child. Talking about fears is often used, as well as art therapy and play-based exploration. Research with younger preschoolers is carried out using drawing. The child’s task is to portray his own fear.

Today, psychologists use more than 20 different methods for identifying fears. The most common ones are:

"Fears in the Houses";
“Fear when I sleep and when I am awake”;
"My Fears";
"Drawing of a family."

Puppet therapy is also effective. This technique for identifying children's fears is based on observing children who spend time alone with toys. Routine observation of the child gradually shifts to the intervention of a specialist, who must conduct a diagnostic session in a playful manner.

This technique is especially helpful when knowing the subject that the child is afraid of. Among the toys selected in advance there should be those that embody the fear of the young patient. It is important to come up with a plot in which, while playing, the child will be able to overcome his own fear. The main thing is for the preschooler to realize that he is stronger and more powerful than the object of his own fear.

Fears in the houses

This technique was developed by psychologist M. Panfilova. Its peculiarity is that the diagnostic process reminds children of a game. The preschooler is given two sheets of paper and pencils. On paper he must draw 2 houses of different colors, in which he must “plant” his own fears. The preschooler must place everything that is not scary in one house, and everything scary in the other.

After all the “terrible” fears have been placed in one of the houses, the child is given the task of drawing a lock on its door, the keys to which were lost. Such actions will help the preschooler realize that his fear is securely covered and will not harm him.

Fear when I'm asleep and awake

This technique was created by psychologist Zakharova. It is also based on drawing fears. The psychologist’s task is to give clear instructions to the preschooler. The patient must portray his fear and later verbalize it.

Assignment to draw your fear

This diagnosis is effective in establishing contact with children who suffer from increased anxiety. By talking about his drawing, the preschooler introduces the specialist to his fears. This method has important psychocorrection properties. Discussing the drawing in a playful way allows you to transform internal resources, their direction and character from protection to personal changes of a constructive form.

My fears

This popular technique is also based on drawing. The primary task of the psychologist is an introductory conversation. The specialist establishes contact with the child and learns from him what he is afraid of. The next step is drawing without a given theme.

This technique is effective in diagnosing fears in children of both junior and senior preschool age. Its peculiarity is that the psychologist can analyze the drawing in detail, paying attention to the shape of the depicted object, its individual parts and color.

Family drawing

This technique is often used when a problematic relationship with mother and father is suspected. Problems in the family leave a serious imprint on the child’s psyche, which is why he can change his attitude towards loved ones, occupy a certain place, etc. The methodology itself is built in 2 stages. The first is an image of a family on paper. The second is a patient interview.

Once the drawing is ready, the psychologist begins the survey, which is conducted in a playful way. The following questions are asked:

Whose family is drawn? (Family of a patient, friend or some fictional character).
Where are the drawn people and what are they doing?
Who in the family has what role?
Which character does a preschooler sympathize with?
Which character is the saddest?
Which of the children depicted are punished by their parents and how?

You can also use a fictitious story about a family going for a walk, but there is not enough space in their car for one person. The preschooler should think about who the family would leave at home.

From the responses received, the psychologist receives a sufficient amount of information about the patient’s fears. The specialist has a sufficient picture to choose the right method for correcting the disorder.

Causes of childhood fears

The most obvious cause of children's fears is a previously experienced traumatic situation. For example, if a child is bitten by a dog, there is a high probability that he will be afraid of dogs in the future. If parents intimidate their child with fairy tale characters in an attempt to achieve their own goals, the child may be afraid to be alone or in the dark. The basis for the formation of fears is also the general anxiety of the immediate environment, which conveys to the child a huge number of prohibitions and an attitude of failure.

Mothers and grandmothers often warn their children with the phrases: “be careful! Otherwise you will fall, get hurt, break your leg.” Of these phrases, the child, as a rule, perceives only the second part

He does not yet fully understand what he is being warned against, but he is filled with a feeling of anxiety, which can develop into persistent fears. Excessively emotional discussion by adults of various incidents and natural disasters, focusing on the fact that danger can lurk at every step also does not go unnoticed by children and is fertile ground for fears.

There are not so obvious reasons that may underlie children's fears:

Overprotection Children living in a modern metropolis are often subject to excessive care from their parents; they constantly hear that danger awaits them at every corner. This makes kids unsure of themselves and fearful. In addition, life itself in a big city is filled with stress and is very intense, which cannot but affect the child’s psyche in general, making it more vulnerable.
Lack of parental attention Due to the excessive workload of adults, their time with children is often severely limited. Computer games and television programs are replacing live emotional communication. Therefore, it is necessary to communicate qualitatively with the child at least several hours a week, take walks together, play, and discuss significant moments.
Lack of physical activity Lack of sufficient physical activity can also cause fear.
Mother's aggression towards the child If the mother occupies a leading position in the family system and often allows herself to show aggression towards other family members, the emergence of fears in the child is almost inevitable. She is not perceived by the baby as an object that will protect and come to the rescue in any situation, so the basic sense of security suffers.
Unstable atmosphere in the family An unstable emotional situation in the family, frequent scandals between family members, lack of mutual understanding and support become the cause of chronic anxiety that a child experiences while in the family. Over time, this can lead to fears.
The presence of psychological and mental disorders in the child. Another cause of fear may be the presence of neurosis in the child, the diagnosis and treatment of which is within the competence of medical workers. A manifestation of neurosis is childhood fears that are not typical for the age at which the child is, or correspond to his age, but acquire a pathological manifestation.

Identifying an anxious child in a group

Work with preschoolers can also be carried out in group classes. One of the ways to identify anxious children is to determine signs of fear according to the system created by G. Lavrentieva and T. Titarenko. The questionnaire includes 20 main points, each of which requires specific supervision of a specialist over children.

The specialist assesses whether a particular preschooler can:

Play without getting tired.
Complain when he has nightmares.
Be subject to frequent mood changes.
Have problems with appetite.
Hold back tears during conflicts.
Have problems sleeping.

To indicate the answers to the points, a table is built with the names of the children. The specialist puts a “plus” or “minus” next to each question. The total number of characters in the column of each test taker is counted. The level of anxiety determines the number of “+”:

1-6 – low;
7-14 – average;
15-20 – high.

This technique is ineffective for individual diagnosis. Its task is to identify anxious children, and not to find out the specifics of their fears.

Stimulus material of the “Anxiety Scale” technique

Instructions

Situations that you often encountered in life are listed. Some of them may be unpleasant for you, causing excitement, worry, anxiety, and fear. Read each sentence carefully and circle one of the numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.

If the situation does not seem unpleasant to you at all, circle the number - 0.
If it worries you a little, circles the number - 1.
If the situation is unpleasant enough and causes such anxiety that you would prefer to avoid it, circle the number - 2.
If it is very unpleasant for you and causes severe concern, anxiety, fear, circle the number - 3.
If the situation is extremely unpleasant for you, if you cannot bear it and it causes you very strong anxiety, very strong fear, circle the number - 4.

Your task is to imagine each situation as clearly as possible and circle the number that indicates to what extent this situation may cause you fear, anxiety, anxiety.

Questions of methodology

Answer at the board
Go to a stranger's house
Participate in competitions, competitions, olympiads
Talk to the school principal
Think about your future
The teacher looks at the magazine, who should I ask?
They criticize you, reproach you for something
They look at you when you do something (they watch you while working, solving a problem)
Writing a test
After the test, the teacher calls out the grades
They don't pay attention to you
Something's not working out for you
Waiting for your parents from the parent meeting
You are in danger of failure, failure
You hear laughter behind you
Taking exams at school
They are angry with you (it is not clear why)
Perform in front of a large audience
An important, decisive matter lies ahead
You don't understand the teacher's explanations
They don’t agree with you, they contradict you
Comparing yourself with others
Your abilities are tested
They look at you like you're small
During class, the teacher unexpectedly asks you a question.
Silenced when you approached (approached)
Your work is evaluated
Thinking about your own affairs
You need to make a decision for yourself
Can't do your homework

How to identify separation anxiety in a preschooler

Examination of younger schoolchildren, as well as preschoolers, about their adaptability in a social group often shows that children have a fear of separation from their parents. The main feature of such anxiety is that the child overcomes the feeling of his own attachment to loved ones, which has a beneficial effect on his personal development. For the child himself it is painful.

Psychologists P. Baker and M. Alvord created an effective method for identifying children suffering from fear of separation from loved ones. Scientists have established signs by which every child psychologist can identify the sufferer:

Constant frustration of the child, his sadness after his parents leave.
Worry about an adult.
Constant worry that his family won't take him home.
Systematic refusal to go to kindergarten.
A systematic fear of being alone.
Fear of falling asleep alone and nightmares.

You should also take into account the presence of complaints in children regarding their health status. Fear of separation and its impact on the psyche of a preschooler can cause signs of various diseases. It is important to identify them and record them in a timely manner.

How to help get rid of fear

Parents do wrong when they tell a boy that men are not afraid of anything. With proper and healthy development, fear in moderation is normal; at 16 years old there is no longer fear.

Tips for frequent fears in fearful children:

Avoid punishment for being afraid.
Don’t laugh and don’t say that the baby is pretending, don’t call fear stupid.
You cannot force someone to do something that a child is afraid to do.
Prohibit watching scary films and reading books.

Why do neurotic fears arise that require treatment:

Under the influence of mental shock, cruelty, trauma, adult anxiety, family quarrels;
A situation that caused horror instead of fear;
Prolonged fear that disturbed the state of the body;
Persistent avoidance of situations that cause fear.

Correct help:

Feeling fear, the child thinks that this is danger. Adults persistently asking about the cause only aggravate and perpetuate the problem.

It is worth waiting for a voluntary story or finding out with leading questions. After listening, reassure him and explain that his mother is nearby, he will be loved and protected. And the baby, after splashing out emotions, will calm down faster.

Helpers are additional protectors: favorite toys, children's weapons, a blanket, a flashlight. It is worth teaching the rules, explaining that they help.

Reading and watching cartoons together, where fear becomes fiction. Inventing fairy tales with transformations of an evil character into a good creature helps to cope with fear. Draw fear with your child, destroy it.

Put your child to bed on time, accompanying him with an invented ritual - reading before bed, putting away toys, or others.

A child who has been prepared in advance for attending kindergarten or a preschooler for school will not be afraid of the new society and environment.

It is more difficult to cope with your own fears and not show them to your son or daughter. If a child sees that there is nothing scary, then he will not be afraid.

Playing hospital will help you cope with your fear of visiting a doctor, and playing scout will help you not be afraid of the dark. Praise often for courage and intelligence.

Situations with fear after the age of 10 should be of concern. These are prerequisites for severe neuroses, possible drug addiction and alcoholism with age.