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Self-reported fears and mental health in elementary school children across Europe

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Abstract

Fears are common in the general population and particularly among children. The number of fear subtypes (animals, natural environment, situational, blood–injection–injury or other type) has been shown to be associated with psychopathology. Furthermore, there is evidence suggesting that some subtypes may be more often associated with mental disorders than others. The present study uses data from a large cross sectional survey, the School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) study, conducted in eight European countries on children ages 6 through 13-years-old attending elementary school (n = 9613). Fear subtypes and self-reported mental health were assessed using the Dominic Interactive (DI), a self-administered computerized image-based questionnaire. The findings show that the number of fear subtypes is strongly associated with self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. In addition, adjusting for the number of subtypes, fear of animals was less likely than other fears to be associated with psychopathology. The findings support the notion that children who report excessive and generalized fear should be targeted for prevention, consistent with research identifying childhood onset generalized specific phobia as a probable precursor to subsequent psychopathology.

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Funding

This study was funded by the European Union, Grant Number 2006336 (Pr. Kovess-Masfety).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Psychologie, EA4139, Université de Bordeaux, 3 ter, place de la Victoire, 33076, Bordeaux, France

    Mathilde M. Husky

  2. The Romanian League for Mental Health, Bucharest, Romania

    Adina Bitfoi

  3. Santé Publique France, Paris, France

    Christine Chan-Chee

  4. Centro Di Psichiatria Di Consulenza E Psicosomatica Azienda Ospedaliero, Universitaria Di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Mauro Giovanni Carta

  5. Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Theology, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany

    Dietmar Goelitz

  6. Yeniden Health and Education Society, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ceren Koç

  7. Clinic of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Sigita Lesinskiene

  8. New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Zlatka Mihova

  9. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Roy Otten

  10. French Embassy in Thailand, Bangrak, Bangkok, Thailand

    Taraneh Shojaei

  11. Université de Paris, Institut de Psychologie, Paris, France

    Viviane Kovess-Masfety

Authors
  1. Mathilde M. Husky
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  2. Adina Bitfoi
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  4. Mauro Giovanni Carta
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  9. Roy Otten
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  11. Viviane Kovess-Masfety
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Contributions

MH and VKM designed the study. Data collection was organized by AB, MCG, CCC, DG, CK, SL, ZM, RO, TS. Analyses were performed by VKM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MH and VKM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mathilde M. Husky.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Participating countries obtained approval of their relevant ethical committees which reviewed the study. Parents received an information letter and a consent form to be signed and returned to the school if they opposed their child’s participation in the study.

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Husky, M.M., Bitfoi, A., Chan-Chee, C. et al. Self-reported fears and mental health in elementary school children across Europe. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31, 1909–1919 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01823-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01823-5

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