Abstract
Top-of-the-head worries were elicited from young people, grades 4 to 8, both before and after they completed quantitative risk assessments of specific health and environmental problems. Results revealed that many students carry a substantial worry burden that includes not only personal matters such as grades and social relations, but also concerns about death and about global issues such as homelessness and environmental degradation. The gender and grade differences that emerged were consistent with a developmental extension from self to societal perspectives. Differences in worry profiles from before to after the risk assessment interviews revealed some impact of recent exposure, as illustrated by a pre—post increase from 7% to 30% in students spontaneously expressing AIDS-related concerns. Implications of the breadth and severity of young people's concerns are discussed, as are the ambiguities inherent in standard assessment approaches.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1994).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Bauer, D. H. (1976). An exploratory study of developmental changes in children's fears.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 69–74.
Bondy, A., Sheslow, D., & Garcia, L. T. (1985). An investigation of children's fears and their mothers' fears.Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 7, 1–12.
Borkovec, T. D. (1985). Worry: A potentially valuable concept.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 481–482.
Borkovec, T. D., Shadick, R., & Hopkins, M. (1991). The nature of normal worry and pathological worry. In R. M. Rapee & D. H. Barlow (Eds.),Chronic anxiety: Generalized anxiety disorder and mixed anxiety-depression (pp. 29–51). New York: Guilford Press.
Cohen, P., Cohen, J., Kasen, S., Velez, C. N., Hartmark, C., Johnson, J., Rojas, M., Brook, J., & Streuning, E. L. (1993). An epidemiological study of disorders in late childhood and adolescence—I. Age- and gender-specific prevalence.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 851–867.
Costello, E. J., Edelbrock, C. S., & Costello, A. J. (1985). Validity of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children: A comparison between psychiatric and pediatric referrals.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 13, 579–595.
Davidson, P. M., White, P. N., Smith, D. J., & Poppen, W. A. (1989). Content and intensity of fears in middle childhood among rural and urban boys and girls.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 150, 51–58.
Doctor, R. M., Goldenring, J. M., & Powell, A. (1987). Adolescents' attitudes about nuclear war.Psychological Reports, 60, 599–614.
Francis, G., & Ollendick, T. H. (1987). Anxiety disorders. In C. L. Frame & J. L. Matson (Eds.),Handbook of assessment in child psychopathology: Applied issues in differential diagnosis and treatment evaluation (pp. 373–400). New York: Plenum Press.
Goldenring, J. M., & Doctor, R. (1986). Teen-age worry about nuclear war: North American and European questionnaire studies.International Journal of Mental Health, 15, 72–92.
Greenberger, E. (1984). Defining psychosocial maturity in adolescence. In P. Karoly & J. J. Steffen (Eds.),Adolescent behavior disorders: Foundations and contemporary concerns (pp. 3–37). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Greenwald, D. S., & Zeitlin, S. J. (1987).No reason to talk about it: Families confront the nuclear taboo. New York: Norton.
Gullone, E., & King, N. J. (1993). The fears of youth in the 1990s: Contemporary normative data.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154, 137–153.
Jersild, A. T., & Holmes, F. B. (1935). Children's fears.Child Development Monographs (Whole No. 20, pp. ix-358).
Jones, E. A., & Borgers, S. (1988). Parent perceptions of children's fears.Elementary School Guidance & Counseling, 23, 10–15.
Kaufman, K. L., Brown, R. T., Graves, K., Henderson, P., & Revolinski, M. (1993). What, me worry? A survey of adolescents' concerns.Clinical Pediatrics, 32, 8–14.
Kendall, P. C., & Ronan, K. R. (1990). Assessment of children's anxieties, fears, and phobias: Cognitive-behavioral models and methods. In C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus (Eds.),Handbook of psychological and educational assessment of children: Vol. 2. Personality, behavior, and context (pp. 223–244). New York: Guilford Press.
King, N. J., Gullone, E., & Ollendick, T. H. (1992). Manifest anxiety and fearfulness in children and adolescents.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 153, 63–73.
King, N. J., Ollier, K., Iacuone, R., Schuster, S., Bays, K., Gullone, E., & Ollendick, T. H. (1989). Fears of children and adolescents: A cross-sectional Australian study using the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 775–784.
Lapouse, R., & Monk, M. A. (1959). Fears and worries in a representative sample of children.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 29, 803–818.
Levy, S., & Guttman, L. (1976). Worry, fear, and concern differentiated.Israel Annals of Psychiatry and Related Disciplines, 14, 211–228.
Links, P. S., Boyle, M. H., & Offord, D. R. (1989). The prevalence of emotional disorder in children.The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 85–91.
McCathie, H., & Spence, S. H. (1991). What is the revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children measuring?Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29, 495–502.
Miller, L. C., Barrett, C. L., Hampe, E., & Noble, H. (1972). Factor structure of childhood fears.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 39, 264–268.
Ollendick, T. H. (1983). Reliability and validity of the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R).Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 685–692.
Ollendick, T. H., King, N. J., & Frary, R. B. (1989). Fears in children and adolescents: Reliability and generalizability across gender, age and nationality.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 19–26.
Ollendick, T. H., Matson, J. L., & Helsel, W. J. (1985). Fears in children and adolescents: Normative data.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 465–467.
Ollendick, T. H., Yule, W., & Ollier, K. (1991). Fears in British children and their relationship to manifest anxiety and depression.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 321–331.
Orton, G. L. (1982). A comparative study of children's worries.Journal of Psychology, 110, 153–162.
Scherer, M. W., & Nakamura, C. Y. (1968). A Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSS-FC): A factor analytic comparison with manifest anxiety (CMAS).Behaviour Research and Therapy, 6, 173–182.
Silverman, W. K., & Nelles, W. B. (1988). The influence of gender on children's ratings of fear in self and same-aged peers.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 149, 17–21.
Simon, A., & Ward, L. O. (1982). Sex-related patterns of worry in secondary school pupils.British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21, 63–64.
Spence, S. H., & McCathie, H. (1993). The stability of fears in children: A two-year prospective study: A research note.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 579–585.
Stanger, C., & Lewis, M. (1993). Agreement among parents, teachers, and children on internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 107–115.
Vasey, M. W. (1993). Development and cognition in childhood anxiety: The example of worry. In T. H. Ollendick & R. Prinz (Eds.),Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 15), pp. 1–39). New York: Plenum Press.
Whalen, C. K., Henker, B., Burgess, S., & O'Neil, R. (1995). Young people talk about AIDS: “When you get sick, you stay sick.”Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24, 338–345.
Whalen, C. K., Henker, B., O'Neil, R., Hollingshead, J., Holman, A., & Moore, B. (1994). Preadolescents' perceptions of AIDS before and after Earvin Magic Johnson's announcement.Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 19, 3–17.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD27035) and the University of California Universitywide AIDS Research Program (R901040). We very much appreciate the cooperation of Sally Snyder and the Irvine Unified School District, Amy Watson and the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School, Trina Panaqua and the Bruin Kids of UCLA, and the Fernald Child Study Center. Special thanks are due to the 4th- through 8th-grade student participants. We are also grateful to Ellen Dellis, Virginia Elderkin-Thompson, Judy Hollingshead, Alison Holman, Judy Koch-Jones, and Kim Witte for their help with the interviews and to Tammy Merlo, Shealen Nash, and Beth Twambley for competent coding assistance. Finally, we thank the anonymous editorial reviewers for constructive comments on the nature of fear and worry.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Henker, B., Whalen, C.K. & O'Neil, R. Worldly and workaday worries: Contemporary concerns of children and young adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 23, 685–702 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01447472
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01447472