PRESCHOOLER’S FEARS: CHANGES DURING THE LAST TEN YEARS IN ESTONIA

(1993-2002).

Merle Taimalu
University of Tartu, Estonia

Paper presented at the Spring conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe,
University of Latvia, 3 May 2003

Summary

The purpose of paper is to analyze what things and how much are 5-6-year-old children afraid of and
what changes have taken place in children’s fears during the last ten years. Interview method is used in
the research. Samples of children aged 5-6 were 117 in 1993 and 91 in 2002. The interview includes
two parts – the semi-structured part with question: “What things are you afraid of?” and the picture-
aided part what consists of eight pictures. Now preschool children are afraid of more things than ten
years ago. In 1993, the average amount of fears children mentioned in semi-structured interview was
4,3 and in 2002 it was 6,6. The most frequent preschooler’s fears in Estonia were connected with
various animals, television and imagined creatures in 1993. In 2002, the three fears children mentioned
more frequently were nightmares, fears related to television and various animals. In the picture-aided
part of interview it became evident that the frequency of fears connected with social relations and
separation was not so big in 2002 than in 1993.
Key words: preschool children, fears, change of children’s fears

1. Introduction

Fear is primitive, inborn emotion. Fear is normal reaction to real or imagined danger, is based on
self-preservation and seems to be normal part of development (Gullone, King, 1997). Quite many fears
are inborn (very loud voices) or developmental (separation, strangers). Most fears are learned and these
cause individual differences in people’s fears. It is common to see the level of fearfulness as the
function of individual genetic differences and environment’s influences (Marks, 1987). Human being
has to learn to cope with his fears. But sometimes fears do not pass and can disorder child’s everyday
life and development. So, we can tell about fears from the two viewpoints. On one hand, fears are
necessary, and on the other hand fears can be sometimes problem, too.
Childhood fears are very common and it is well known that the objects of fears are related to
cognitive development and children’s specific phases of development (Bauer, 1976). There is
significant increase in the amount and variety of children’s fears in the beginning of preschool years
(about age 3). This change is related to widening of child’s environment, development of fantasy,
inability to separate fantasy and reality, and other developmental characteristics. As Jones & Jones have
noted in 1928 already, many common childhood fears appear because of child’s increasing capability to
perceive potential dangerousness of situation. Yet the child does not understand completeness of the
situation and is not consequently able to control it (Ollendick, Yule, Ollier, 1991). Sometimes it is
difficult to understand what the child really fears (for example he said: ”I am afraid of ghosts when I
am alone in dark room and I hear wind blowing outside”) (Kirmanen, Lahikainen, 1997). Small
children’s fears are often related to concrete things and situations that seem to be frightening, to the
contrary real things and situations that can cause big trouble. Gradually during children’s development
fears of ghosts and unreal animals change to fear of real-life violence that can hurt them actually
(Owen, 1998).
The study of Bouldin & Pratt (1998) in combination with previous fear research suggests an inverted
U-curve across childhood and adolescence, with fears initially increasing from preschool to early
school, and then reducing toward adolescence. May be there is some optimal or “normal” level of
anxiety (fearfulness) what comes in time through maturing process (Gullone, King, Ollendick, 2001).
The most common fears during preschool years are nightmares, familiar and unfamiliar animals,
imagined creatures (ghosts, monsters etc.), darkness and dark places, television (Bauer, 1976,
Kirmanen, Lahikainen, 1997, Muris, Merckelbach, 2000, Goodman, Gurian, 2001a).

1.1. Influence of changing society

Changes in society influence children’s fears, too. Probably because of many social pressures and
constantly growing violence, small children today are afraid of things they are not yet prepared for
(Owen, 1998). At the same time, many fears of small children have remained and probably always
remain the same (animals, imagined creatures, darkness, being alone, separation etc).
There have been many rapid changes in Estonia during the last 12 years. Many values have changed
in our society and changes occurred in family, too. We can suppose that these changes have impact on
children’s welfare and security. It is necessary to study security of small children through their fears.
The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions: what things and how much are 5-6-year-
old children afraid of today? What changes have taken place in children’s fears during the last ten
years? Do these changes relate to changes in society and family?

2. Method and Sample

2.1. Sample

Samples of children aged 5-6 were 117 in 1993 and 91 in 2002. They were selected occasionally
from population register. The sample consisted of 50,5 % boys and 49,5 % girls. 50,5 % of children
was 5-years old and 49,5 % was 6-years old.

2.2. Method

The paper is based on some questions of wide co-research between Estonia and Finland. Method of
the study was created by main coordinators of this research, professor A.R. Lahikainen (University of
Tampere, Finland) and professor I. Kraav (University of Tartu, Estonia).
Many child researches maintain that children themselves are the best informants in studies about
children’s problems. Several authors are mentioned that agreement between parents’ and children’s
answers is low. Although parents offer important information, children themselves must be considered
primary informants about their fears and worries (Muris et al., 2001). Adults often cannot understand
children’s fears properly. Misapprehension of child’s fears may happen because of different
understanding of fear by adults and children (Goodman, Gurian, 2001a). It is very important that in
study about small children’s fears researches choose suitable methods (questionnaire for parents,
interviewing children themselves, opened questions, concrete situations etc). So we get sometimes
different, but more thorough information about children’s fears.
Interview method was used in the research for children and questionnaire for parents. The interview
includes two parts – the semi-structured part with open question: “What things are you afraid of?” and
the picture-aided part that consists of eight pictures. At the end of open question the fears related to
television, day-care, animals and nightmares were asked if the child had not mentioned anything about
them.
The picture-aided part was designed on the basis of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R)
(Ollendick, 1983). The eight pictures were presented with a short story about a girl/a boy in the picture
(depending on the sex of the interviewed). The pictures represented fearful situations: fear of failure
and criticism (other child is teasing, parents are arguing, parents are critical toward the child), fear of
unknown (going to bed alone in the dark, parents are going to trip), fear of danger and death (getting
lost in the forest and in the town surrounded by strange people), medical fears (going to the doctor).
In measuring the intensity of fears both in open question and in picture-aided part we used the
technique developed by Carpenter (1990) (Children’s Global Rating Scale) where children can assess
their experience of pain and fear. While the child was speaking about the fear the interviewer showed
him/her a picture in which there was three different lines: the upper line with sharp curves designated
great, the middle line with moderate curves average and the lower, straight line minimal fear. Children
understood well what was expected of them and willingly used this technique.
Using method like this enables to get more complete picture about children’s fears. Semi-structured
part of interview helps to find out the amount and variety of fears. Picture-aided part of interview
enables to study more closely fears related to social relations and separation, and fears that children do
not make conscious.

3. Results
3.1. Amount of children’s fears according to semi-structured interview

There are some significant differences in the amount of fears between 1993 and 2002 according to
the question: ”What things are you afraid of?” (table 1). Now preschool children are afraid of more
things than ten years ago. In 1993 the average amount of fears was 4,3 and in 2002 it was 6,6. In 2002
there were no children who said: ”I have no fears”. Ten years ago the most of children brought out from
two to five fears. In 2002 there were significantly more children who mentioned from six to nine and
ten and more fears.

Table 1. The number of children’s fears according to question: “What things are you afraid of?” (%)
(n (1993)=117, n (2002)=91)

Number of
fears 1993 2002 p<
0 5 0 0,05
1 3 4
2-5 71 41 0,01
6-9 16 38 0,01
10 and more 5 15 0,05

The source of data from 1993 is the author’s MA thesis “Preschooler’s fears as the security
endangering factors, and coping ways“(Taimalu, 1997).

3.2. Children’s fears according to the semi-structured interview

 The open question “What things are you afraid of?” helps to find out the amount and big variety of
children’s fears. The fears were divided into 19 categories (table 2). In 2002 the most often Estonian
children brought out as frightening nightmares, television, unfamiliar animals, imaginary creatures and
familiar animals. The ten most common fears in 1993 and 2002 are a little different (table 3).
There are some significant differences between children’s fears in 1993 and 2002 (table 2). In 2002
children brought out more frequently nightmares, television-related fears, imagined creatures
(imagination-related fears) and fears connected with behaviour of peers. The frequency of some fears
has decreased today. In 2002 children mentioned less often than in 1993 the fear of unfamiliar and
exotic animals, familiar animals, separation (losing a loved one), new things and situations and going to
the doctor.
Table 2. Preschool Estonian children’s fears in 1993 and 2002 according to question: “What things are you afraid of?”
(%) (n(1993)=117, n(2002)=91)

1993 2002
Fear category No fear Minimal Average Great No fear Minimal Average Great p<
fear fear fear fear fear fear

Nightmares 95 1 2 3 12 23 29 36 0,01
Television 52 6 22 20 18 13 14 55 0,01
Unfamiliar animal 31 1 24 44 35 7 14 44 0,01
Imaginary 58 2 16 24 35 10 18 37 0,01
creatures
Familiar animal 30 3 37 30 37 13 22 28 0,01
Minor injuries and 77 3 10 10 69 11 9 11
danger situations
Behavior of peers 90 3 3 4 71 14 9 6 0,01
Darkness/dark 82 4 10 4 78 4 8 10
places
Strange people 77 1 8 14 79 2 6 13
Behavior of 88 3 5 4 86 3 6 6
significant adults
Big accidents and 88 1 3 8 88 0 7 6
death
Being alone/ 90 0 5 5 88 2 3 7
getting lost
War, guns, attacks 93 0 4 3 89 2 3 6
Losing a loved 77 1 12 10 91 2 2 4 0,01
one/separation
Going to sleep and 94 2 3 1 95 0 3 2
night fears
New things and 80 4 8 8 95 2 0 3 0,01
situations
Thunderstorms etc 99 0 0 1 96 0 2 2
Traffic accidents, 97 1 3 0 97 0 2 1
vehicles
Going to the 92 0 4 4 100 0 0 0 0,01
doctor
Table 3. The ten most common fears of preschool Estonian children in 1993 and 2002 reported in semi-structured
interview (percentages indicating the amount of children whose fear was “average + great”)
 fear category 1993 fear category 2002
unfamiliar/exotic animals 68 television 69
familiar animals 67 nightmares 65
television 42 unfamiliar/exotic animals 58
imaginary creatures 40 imaginary creatures 55
separation 22 familiar animals 50
strange people 22 minor injuries 20
minor injuries 20 strange people 19
new things and situations 16 darkness/dark places 18
darkness/dark places 14 Behavior of peers 15
big injuries, accidents and big injuries, accidents and
death 11 death 13

3.3. Children’s fears according to the picture-aided interview

Picture-aided part of interview enables to study more closely fears related to social relations,
relations with significant adults and separation, and fears what small children often do not make
conscious.
In 1993 and 2002 the three most common fears of Estonian children were same. The most
frightening was getting lost in the forest, the second – going to bed in the dark and the third – getting
lost in the town surrounded by strange people (table 4).

Table 4. Preschool Estonian children’s fears in 1993 and 2002 according to the picture-aided interview (%)
(n(1993)=117, n(2002)=91)

1993 2002
Fear No fear Minimal Average Great No fear Minimal Average Great p<
fear fear fear fear fear fear

Getting lost in the forest 1 12 35 51 3 11 25 60

Going to bed in the dark 3 21 30 46 9 17 28 47
Getting lost in the town 3 17 46 34 13 21 30 36 0,01
surrounded by strange
people
Parents’ criticism 5 21 43 31 19 20 25 36 0,01
toward the child
Going to the doctor 11 23 41 25 26 21 26 26 0,01
Parents leaving for a 4 18 35 43 35 15 25 24 0,01
long trip
Being teased 15 34 39 12 37 19 26 18 0,01
Parents’ quarrel 15 37 30 18 45 15 15 24 0,01

In the picture-aided part it became evident that children were afraid of problems in social situations
and separation less often in 2002 than in 1993. There were some significant differences: in 2002
children were rarer than in 1993 afraid of getting lost in the town surrounded by strange people,
parents’ criticism toward him, going to the doctor, parents leaving for a trip, being teased by peers and
parents’ quarrel. It is interesting to mention that in 2002 there were more children who were not afraid
of these six situations and fewer them whose degree of fear was “average”. But the amount of children
whose degree of fear was “great” was quite the same in 2002 and 1993.

4. Discussion

Several significant changes in preschool children’s fears have taken place during the past ten years.
Children have more fears today than ten years ago. The frequency of some fears has significantly
increased. The frequency of nightmares and television-related fears has increased dramatically. The
fears connected with imagination (imagined creatures etc) and behaviour of peers children brought out
more frequently today, too.
Many authors have found the nightmares to be one of the most frequent fears among preschool
children (Kirmanen, Lahikainen, 1997, Muris, Merckelbach, 2000). Severe nighttime fears that express
as nightmares are probably due to a complex interaction of biological, environmental and cognitive-
mediational factors. The family context is considered a significant factor as nighttime fears often arise
at times of parental illness or marital conflict (King, Ollendick, Tonge, 1997). Winnocott (1985 in
Kirmanen, 1999) has argued that nightmares are in a strange way not only frightening but also
satisfactory to children. In the fantasies of dreams child can safely handle many kinds of feelings – like
aggression, hate or envy – and even kill and destroy without real consequences in the external shared
reality. Frightening dreams can be seen both as an expression of fear and as a coping effort. Monsters
etc in the dream cause fear in the children but they simultaneously give form to more vague feeling of
fear and anxiety. When child’s vague feelings of fear get a concrete form of imaginary creature, he can
better master the fear.
The increase of fear of nightmares and imagination-related fears can be connected with television.
The other cause of increase of the amount and some specific fears may be the change of values. Parents
work out of home more and spend time with their children less than earlier. Children are left all alone
more frequently and they spend more time with television.
The increasing fear of behaviour of peers may be influenced by increasing violence in our society.
School-violence is frequently discussed topic, but violence may increase already among preschool
children.
The most frequent fears of Estonian children in 2002 are quite similar with most frequent fears of
Finnish children in 1993. The most frequently Finnish children brought out as frightening nightmares
(83 %), television (77 %), familiar and unfamiliar animals (51 % and 49 %), imaginary creatures (29
%) and darkness (24 %) (Kirmanen, Lahikainen,1997).
Somewhat inconsistent is the result that children are less often afraid of problems in social relations
and separation today than ten years ago (according to the picture-aided interview). Maybe children are
more independent today and they are not afraid of separation from parents and being alone so much.
This finding is in conformity with the decrease of fear of separation according to the open question. It
is possible that children can manage better with problems in social relations now. Attending to the
kindergarten in the younger age may have impact on the development of independence and problem-
solving skills, too.
Fear is normal emotion that each human being experiences. Fears are especially frequent in
preschool period (from 3 to 6 year). With children’s cognitive development, the amount of fears begins
to decrease and fears change more realistic.
The treatment dilemma of fears is complicated because the aim is not to eliminate the fear but rather
to develop the suitable coping strategies, which give children the sense of control over the life-events
(Goodman, Gurian, 2001b).
 Children nowadays bring out the same general classes of fears as the children of previous
generations did. So, there are certain fears that children experience from time to time. However, today
real-life fears can occur in the younger age than previous studies show. Because of the changes in
society, several children’s fears have changed, too.

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