Behavioral treatment of children's fears: A review.

Reviews behavioral literature on childhood fears, including conceptual models, normative research, and fear-reduction studies. The main conclusions are as follows: (a) The information value of nearly 60 yrs of normative studies is meager, and their continuation is of doubtful value. (b) Most research has been limited to laboratory studies of mildly to moderately fearful children, and few data exist on severe fears studied in the child's natural environment or on the clinical prevalence of fear. (c) Cognitive and developmental factors have been largely ignored. (d) Modeling is the most frequently used and reliably effective fear-reduction strategy. (e) A cognitive, verbal-mediation approach is promising but is not yet sufficiently researched. (f) There is little evidence that systematic desensitization or contingency management strategies are effective. Implications for large-scale fear reduction and prevention are discussed. The need for research that recognizes the complex paradigms of children's fears is suggested. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)