Knowledge and attitudes of Australian veterinarians to animal abuse and human interpersonal violence.

A survey of Australian veterinarians was undertaken to assess their amount of knowledge about, and their attitudes towards animal abuse, human violence and the link between the two. Results from the 185 respondents to a questionnaire that was either mailed out or hand delivered revealed a wide variety of definitions and attitudes towards abuse, with the majority of veterinarians recognising the link between human and animal abuse. The overwhelming majority of veterinarians believed that they should intervene in some way when confronted with either animal or human abuse, although most felt ill-equipped to deal with suspected human abuse. Almost 20% of cases of animal abuse had associated suspected or known human abuse. It is suggested that veterinarians need more resources made available to them to be able to deal more effectively with these situations.

The development of normal fear: a century of research.

This paper reviews over a century's research into the developmental patterns of normal fear. Normal fear has been defined as a normal reaction to a real or imagined threat and is considered to be an integral and adaptive aspect of development with the primary function of promoting survival. Across a wide range of methodologies and assessment instruments researchers have been particularly focussed on investigating whether fear content, prevalence and intensity differ depending upon age, gender, socio-economic status, and culture. The structure and continuity of normal fears have also received much attention. The most consistently documented findings include that fear decreases in prevalence and intensity with age and that specific fears are transitory in nature. There are also predictable changes in the content of normal fear over the course of development. Such changes are characterized by a transition from infant fears which are related to immediate, concrete and prepotent stimuli, and which are largely non-cognitive, to fears of late childhood and adolescence which are related to anticipatory, abstract, and more global stimuli and events. Recent research into normal fear has more closely examined the validity of the more frequently used current assessment technique (i.e., the fear survey schedule). This research has provided some encouraging results as well as directions for future investigation.

The Fear Survey Schedule for Children--II: a psychometric investigation with American data.

The Fear Survey Schedule for Children and Adolescents (FSSC-II) was introduced in 1992 as a revised and updated self-report fear scale by the Australian researchers Gullone and King. The present study examines the factor structure as well as age and gender differences using the FSSC-II with an American sample of youth. Two phases of data collection were completed. During phase I (the pilot study), an adapted American version of the FSCC-II was administered to 239 subjects. Following revisions of the adapted FSSC-II, phase II was completed. The second phase of the study involved a sample of 720 children and adolescents ranging from grades 2-12. Results were found to be very similar across the two countries. The FSSC-II factor structure with American youth was found to be almost identical to that reported for Australian youth. Eight of the 10 most common fears were the same across countries. Moreover, age and gender differences consistent with the Australian data were found with females and younger respondents reporting higher levels of fear.

Fears in hearing-impaired and normally hearing children and adolescents.

In this study the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to 138 hearing-impaired and 134 normally hearing youths. Although both groups expressed fear of potentially dangerous stimuli, significant differences in responding were evident towards other kinds of stimuli. Whereas hearing children were more fearful of failure and criticism, the hearing-impaired children were more afraid of the unknown, injury and small animals. Girls reported significantly greater levels of fear than boys thus confirming a well established research finding. Further, significant interactions were found between hearing status and gender. In contrast to previous findings, age was not related to self-reports of fear.

Self-reports of panic attacks and manifest anxiety in adolescents.

A recent paper by Nelles and Barlow (1988; Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 359-372) provided the rationale for an investigation of panic attacks in adolescents. A panic attack questionnaire and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale were administered to an unselected sample of Australian adolescents. Of 534 adolescents, 42.9% reported having at least one panic attack. Other data are reported on the characteristics of panic attacks, life interference and avoidance behaviour. Panickers reported significantly higher anxiety levels than nonpanickers. Differences between the findings of Australian and American samples were noted and directions for future research were identified. Several methodological issues were also discussed including the reliability and validity of self-report data on panic attacks.

The assessment of normal fear in children and adolescents.

Published research into normal fear now spans more than one century. During this time, a large number of papers have been published in the area. The resulting literature has led to a detailed understanding of normal fear experiences and, in particular, the ways in which they change with maturation. Of central importance, when evaluating the documented outcomes of this work, is the soundness of the methods and tools used in assessment. It is not surprising given the large number of researchers that have been involved in this area, that the assessment methods used have varied substantially. These have ranged from the methodologically problematic technique of obtaining retrospective adult reports to the administration of psychometrically validated fear survey schedules. An extensive review of this literature reveals that, for the last two decades, the fear survey schedule has been the most widely used technique for the fear assessment. The preference that has and is being demonstrated for the fear survey schedule as an assessment tool is most likely due to its many advantages including ease of use, objectivity in scoring, and provision of a substantial amount of information in a short period. However, despite its advantages, researchers and clinicians need to be cognizant of its potential limitations and, depending on the questions being asked, may need to consider using it in combination with alternative assessment strategies.

Acceptability of fear reduction procedures with children.

The present study investigated the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of alternative fear reduction procedures used with children and adolescents. Descriptions of fear reduction procedures were evaluated by secondary school students, parents, and professionals. Of all the treatments, systematic desensitisation was rated as the most acceptable and effective. Presumably because of its confronting and potentially aversive nature, flooding was generally unacceptable and seen to be ineffective. In contrast to previous research findings, a clear pattern failed to emerge between the evaluations of the various groups. A strong positive relationship was found between acceptability and perceived effectiveness ratings.

Fears of youth with mental retardation: psychometric evaluation of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II (FSSC-II).

The nature and development of normal fear, although widely researched within the general population, has been seriously neglected for individuals with mental retardation. The present study involves the psychometric evaluation of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II with two samples: 187 children and adolescents with mental retardation and 372 intellectually average students. The schedule was demonstrated to have sound psychometric properties for both samples including good internal consistency and high retest reliability. Sound validity indices were determined by examining the relationships of fear scores with state, trait, and manifest anxiety scores. Comparison of the two samples yielded significant differences. In particular, students with mental retardation were found to score significantly higher than the comparison sample. In contrast to the age-related decrease in fear found for students of average intelligence, those with mental retardation did not demonstrate a decrease in self-reported fear with age. Gender differences were consistent across both samples with females reporting higher levels of fearfulness and a greater number of fears than males.

Acceptability of alternative treatments for school refusal: evaluations by students, caregivers, and professionals.

School refusal is a debilitating condition that may be treated in various ways. This study examined the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of alternative treatments for school refusal. A total of 376 people comprising students, parents, and professionals, were required to evaluate several treatment options in relation to a vignette. Despite its potential aversiveness, behavioural management was the most acceptable treatment approach followed, in order, by home tuition with psychotherapy, hospitalisation, and medication. A strong positive relationship was found between acceptability and perceived effectiveness.

Common fears: a comparison of adolescents' self-generated and fear survey schedule generated fears.

Investigations into normative fear in adolescence have indicated that the most common fears are consistently death-related and danger-related. Assessments have most commonly been made from self-reports on fear survey schedules. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to determine whether adolescents would provide responses comparable to those generated through the use of a fear survey schedule when asked to list their 3 greatest fears. A total of 439 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years (237 girls, 201 boys, 1 sex not reported) listed their greatest fears; then they completed the 78-item Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II (E. Gullone & N. J. King, 1992). Consistent with past research, the 10 most common fears generated via the fear schedule related to death and danger. However, on the whole, the self-generated fears deviated from the death and danger theme, also including fear of failure, fear of animals, and fear of the unknown. A tendency toward global responses in self-generated fears appeared to encompass the majority of specific death-related fears included in the fear schedule, thus allowing for other predominant fears to be listed among the 3 most common.

Dieting and body image in the child's world: conceptualization and behavior.

The authors examined children's (N = 431, aged 7 years to 10 years 9 months) understanding of and reasons for dieting, to validate recent research indicating that perceived body-image dissatisfaction and restrictive eating behaviors occur in pre-adolescent populations. Scores on 2 sentence-completion tasks confirmed that the children do have a clear understanding of what dieting means in terms of intent and behavior (defined, in this study, as intentional restrictive eating behaviors). The results indicated that children as young as 7 years of age report dissatisfaction with their current body size and deliberately engage in restrictive eating behaviors. These findings provide validation of previous research and emphasize children's capacity to engage in deleterious health behaviors. Given that extreme dieting behaviors are harmful to a child's physical and psychological well-being, the authors concluded that research exploring (a) the genesis of these attitudes and behaviors and (b) their continuity or discontinuity across childhood is required.

The fears of youth in the 1990s: contemporary normative data.

This article reports the findings of a normative fear investigation involving a sample of 918 Australian children and adolescents, ranging in age from 7-18 years. The Fear Survey Schedule for Children and Adolescents-II (FSSC-II) was administered to determine self-reported prevalence, intensity, and content of fear. Consistent with past research, girls generally reported significantly higher levels of fearfulness than boys. Age differences also were found; younger children reported a higher intensity and a greater number of fears than older children and adolescents. Qualitative differences in normative fear were found, with younger children reporting more animal fears and older children reporting more fears relating to social evaluation or psychic stress. Significantly, although the specific content of children's and adolescents' normative fears in the 1990s (as compared with the 1960s) has changed (now including fear of AIDS and of nuclear war), the fears found to be most prevalent continue to relate to death and danger. These findings are discussed within the context of the prepotency and preparedness concepts of fear.

Manifest anxiety and fearfulness in children and adolescents.

The relationship between self-reported fear and anxiety was examined in a large sample of normal Australian children and adolescents. Participants completed the Fear Survey Schedule for Children--Revised (Ollendick, 1983) and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978). Following an examination of the internal consistency of these instruments, correlational analyses were conducted on anxiety and fear scores. Fear scores were shown to be sensitive to anxiety, sex, and age groups. Furthermore, discriminant analysis showed that high-anxiety children indicated a greater fear of items related to failure and criticism than did low-anxiety children. Other issues, including the content overlap between the two scales used in the investigation, are discussed.

Self-reported anxiety in children and adolescents: a three-year follow-up study.

Anxiety may be more transient in children and adolescents than in adults. The present study involves a longitudinal design enabling the investigation of the continuity/discontinuity of self-reported anxiety in children and adolescents. A sample of 68 children was followed over 3 years. Results indicate that, on the whole, self-reported anxiety decreased over time. This was true for overall anxiety and its sub-types, with the exception of social concerns/concentration, which did not decrease over time. Consistent with past research involving normal fear, girls and younger children were found to score higher on anxiety than boys and older children did. However, those groups scoring higher at inception also demonstrated the most marked decreases over the 3-year period. In addition to the changes found over time, the data indicated continuity in anxiety such that levels of anxiety at inception were significant predictors of follow-up anxiety, although only a small amount of variance was shared. The authors concluded that adult models of anxiety cannot be applied to youth and that future research should investigate the contribution of contextual factors to the development of anxiety in children.

Prevalence of anxiety and depression in Australian adolescents: comparisons with worldwide data.

Data from two Australian studies were combined so that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in a large, normative sample of Australian adolescents could be investigated. The combined sample comprised 1,299 adolescents randomly selected from metropolitan and country schools in Melbourne, a large Australian city. The data were examined in order to ascertain the percentages of adolescents who scored above the clinical cut-off on two self-report instruments--the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985) and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (W. M. Reynolds, 1986). The results of these analyses were then compared with previously reported prevalence rates from studies worldwide. This comparison revealed striking differences in the prevalence of anxiety and depression across different countries and cultures. Limitations attributable to different self-report measures and imposed-etic approaches are discussed. Issues pertaining to social and political climate are also raised.

Fear of AIDS: self-reports of Australian children and adolescents.

Using a self-report questionnaire, we assessed fear of AIDS in Australian children and adolescents. Recently, the participants had been subjected to a community education program featuring frightening televised advertisements. A high level of fear was reported by 65.9% of the respondents. Girls reported a significantly greater mean fear than boys. Fear of AIDS was not significantly influenced by developmental factors. Given the design and measures, it was not possible to specify the origins of the fear response.

Adolescent risk-taking and the five-factor model of personality.

The aim of this study was to investigate the links between adolescent risk-taking and personality in a comprehensive manner, as opposed to focusing on any one particular risk or personality factor as has occurred in much previous research. We conceptualized risk-taking broadly through use of the Adolescent Risk Questionnaire (ARQ) which yields information relating to risk judgements and behaviours in four areas (i.e. thrill-seeking risk behaviours, reckless risks, rebellious risks and antisocial risks). Personality was conceptualized using the Five-factor Model of personality, a comprehensive trait model of personality. The ARQ and the NEO Five-factor Inventory were administered to 459 school-based adolescents aged 11 to 18 years. Consistent with past research, younger adolescents and girls generally reported engaging in risk behaviours less frequently than older adolescents and boys. Also, younger adolescents and girls generally rated the ARQ behaviours as more risky than their older male counterparts. This was in line with the significant negative correlations found between risk judgements and risk behaviours of all types. Also consistent with past research, few age differences were found for the personality traits. Sex differences were evident, with female adolescents scoring higher on neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness than male adolescents. Together, risk judgements, personality factors, age and sex were found to be significant predictors of risk behaviours; however, the personality factor of significance was found to differ depending upon the risk type. This was also true for age and sex which differed in importance depending upon the risk type. Overall, these factors were most successful in predicting rebellious risk-taking and least successful in predicting thrill-seeking.

Adolescent body image dissatisfaction: relationships with self-esteem, anxiety, and depression controlling for body mass.

The current study examined the relationships of anxiety, depression, and self-esteem with Perceived Body Image Dissatisfaction (PBID) in a nonclinical population of 516 adolescents, aged 12 to 18. The prevalence of PBID was comparative with previous findings. Interestingly, actual body mass and psychological well-being variables were found to be significantly related with PBID, whilst being independent of each other. Findings support proposals that PBID arises from a complex interplay of factors, including gender, self-esteem, and actual body mass. In particular, our findings highlight the need for future research of a prospective nature incorporating psychological, sociocultural, and maturational factors.

Psychometric evaluation of a revised fear survey schedule for children and adolescents.

This study describes the second revision of a fear survey schedule for children which was originally developed by Scherer and Nakamura in the 1960's. The revised instrument (FSSC-II) was psychometrically evaluated on a sample of 918 children and adolescents aged between 7 and 18 years, attending regular primary and secondary schools in urban, suburban and rural areas of Victoria. It was demonstrated to have high internal consistency. The convergent and divergent validity of the revised instrument was examined by correlating it with conceptually related as well as distinct scales, respectively. Such analyses demonstrated sound validity. A five-factor solution almost identical to that reported for the FSSC-R, is described as are age and gender differences. The most common fears on the revised instrument are also reported.