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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
A confirmatory attempt is made to assess the validity of a hierarchic structural model of fears. Using a sample
comprising 1,980 adult volunteers in Portugal, the present study set out to delineate the multidimensional structure
and hierarchic organization of a large set of feared stimuli by contrasting a higher-order model comprising general
fear at the highest level against a first-order model and a unitary fear model. Following a refinement of the original
model, support was found for a five-factor model on a first-order level, namely (1) Social fears, (2) Agoraphobic
fears, (3) Fears of bodily injury, death and illness, (4) Fears of display to aggressive scenes, and (5) Harmless
animals fears. These factors in turn loaded on a General fear factor at the second-order level. However, the firstorder
model was as parsimonious as a hierarchic higher-order model. The hierarchic model supports a quantitative
hierarchic approach which decomposes fear disorders into agoraphobic, social, and specific (animal and bloodinjury)
fears.
Description
Keywords
Fears Self-assessment Hierarchic fear structure Confirmatory analysis
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Clinical and Experimental Psychology, 2, 1-6. Doi: 10.4172/2471-2701.1000133
Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert