Several studies show us what are the most common fears among children, but are there gender differences?The truth is that, in both childhood and adolescence, the feeling of fear is more associated with women.
However, this may have a cultural explanation, as it is “forbidden” for the male sex to show and recognize their fear of something.
- Another aspect that society may not think about very often is the difference between the content of fears if you look at this division between boys and girls.
- Let’s take a closer look.
According to Valiente, Sandon and Chorot (2003), girls are often more afraid of darkness, places, sounds, objects or strangers, being kidnapped, stolen or killed, snakes, dirt and animals.
On the other hand, children show greater fear of danger, physical harm, school, failure, nightmares and imaginary beings.
In addition, we can point out that, as a rule, girls score higher in different categories, they make a greater difference in fears such as rats, spiders, snakes, mysterious houses or loneliness.
However, it should be noted that these differences occur when the fear is progressive, since the difference between boys and girls is not present when it comes to fears that reach a clinical level.
In addition, this trend is declining among girls from 9 to 11 years old, which is not as pronounced for boys.
One of the most common reasons to consult in medical practices is childhood fear, what few people know is that many of these fears are evolutionary and will disappear over time.
However, we must emphasize that this should not be a problem, as long as its intensity is not too high and therefore does not limit the normal life of the child for long periods of time.
The unknownness of this fact often generates ineffective strategies that, far from alleviating fear, increase it, so it is important to know that the fears of childhood and adolescence have an evolutionary meaning and respond to phylogenetic reasons.
This means that the fact that a young child is afraid of being separated from their parents is adaptive, our evolution has determined that it is better not to be separated from primary caregivers, because outside there are dangers that a baby cannot face. Only.
Obviously, life today is very different and there are fears that are no longer so easily and relevantly explained, but we all need to know what fears are normal at every stage of life.
As we see, fear is an emotion that constantly accompanies us throughout the life cycle, one way or another, fear disappears depending on how it is managed and the characteristics that affect it.
In late adolescence and early adulthood, remaining fears become much more resilient, so it is critical to develop them properly in childhood.