Phobic dimensions: III. factor analytic approaches to the study of common phobic fears; An updated review of findings obtained with adult subjects

The structure of fundamental fears

Reiss's expectancy theory states that panic attacks, phobias, and other fear reactions arise from three fundamental fears (sensitivities): anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and injury/illness sensitivity. The present study examined two central aspects of the theory: (1) the assumption that fundamental fears are factorially distinct, and (2) the proposition that fundamental fears account for variance in other forms of fear and in trait anxiety. Measures of fundamental fears, common fears, and trait anxiety were administered to 100 community volunteers. The results supported Reiss's theory; the fundamental fears were factorially distinct, minimally intercorrelated, and accounted for significant proportions of variance in measures of other fears and trait anxiety. Specific and conceptually meaningful links were found between fundamental fears and common fears.

Backward masking and skin conductance responses after conditioning to nonfeared but fear-relevant stimuli in fearful subjects

The present study examined two issues. Are skin conductance responses conditioned to fear-relevant stimuli, as contrasted with responses conditioned to fear-irrelevant stimuli, elicited after merely an automatic, nonconscious analysis of the stimulus content? Do fearful subjects show better conditioning to nonfeared but fear-relevant stimuli (e.g., conditioning to spiders in snake-fearing subjects) than do nonfearful subjects? Subjects afraid of snakes, but not of spiders, or vice versa (n = 32) and nonfearful subjects (n = 32) were shown either fear-relevant stimuli (snakes or spiders and rats) or fear-irrelevant stimuli (flowers and mushrooms) in a differential conditioning paradigm, where one of the stimuli was followed by an electric shock. During a subsequent extinction phase, the conditioned stimuli were presented under backward masking conditions, preventing their conscious recognition. Consistent with our hypothesis, during the masked extinction of the conditioned stimuli, differential skin conductance responses to conditioning and control stimuli remained only for subjects conditioned to fear-relevant stimuli. Both fearful and nonfearful control subjects had significantly larger differential electrodermal responses to fear-relevant than to fear-irrelevant stimuli. However, contrary to our hypothesis, fearful subjects did not show enhanced conditionability to their nonfeared but fear-relevant stimuli as compared with nonfearful control subjects.

Pathways to spider phobia

Using a revised version of the Phobic Origin Questionnaire (POQ; Ost, L. G. & Hugdahl, K. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 19, 439-477; 1981), the present study examined whether conditioning experiences, modeling experiences, and/or informational learning experiences were more often reported by spider phobics (n = 41) than by non-fearful controls (n = 30). The two groups did not differ with regard to the overall frequency of conditioning or modeling events. Remarkably, the frequency of informational learning was higher among non-fearful Ss than among phobics. Although the limitations inherent to the retrospective nature of the present study should be borne in mind, the data suggest that, at least in spider phobics, conditioning events, modeling experiences, and/or informational learning do not necessarily give rise to phobic fears.

Comparison between FSS-II scores of two groups of university students sampled 15 yr apart

Undergraduate students were contacted in classes at Memorial University of Newfoundland during 1975 and asked to complete the FSS-II, on a voluntary basis; 511 students (232 male and 279 female subjects) provided enough data for analyses. In 1990, the same procedure was carried out, resulting in a comparable group of 359 students (161 male and 198 female subjects). Contrary to predictions, the 1990 students were more fearful than the 1975 group and the increase in fearfulness was contributed exclusively by women students. The component of fear contributing most to this increase related to social evaluation and violence.