One in five childhood fears is so serious that it should be treated like an
adult psychiatric disorder, a Dutch report says. A team led by Peter Muris of
the University of Maastricht asked 290 primary school children about their fears
and ranked them on a clinical scale. In 66 cases the fear was so bad that it
interfered with the child’s daily life, making it serious enough to class as an
anxiety disorder (Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol 38, p 217).
“There seems to be a need for early intervention,” says Muris. The most common
fears include spiders,…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Physics
Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ

Mathematics
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ

Technology
Horror video game gets its creepiness from a quantum computer
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ

Mind
We're becoming more individualistic and it's affecting our love lives
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµ articles
1
Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting
2
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
3
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
4
Mathematical AI helps researchers crack 50-year-old problem
5
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
6
Embryos made without sperm or eggs reveal why many pregnancies fail
7
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
8
Mirror life: ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓÆµs clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria
9
Q-Day could destroy bitcoin – and our retirement savings
10
How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin – and aliens