Psychoeducation leads to a reduction in fear of spiders in 8- to 9-year-old children - a pilot study

Objective: In Western societies spiders are among the least liked of all arthropods, eliciting feelings of fear and disgust. The clinical manifestation of this fear - spider phobia - is a common anxiety disorder. In most cases the disorder has an early onset in childhood. The symptoms show a chronic course and can persist into adulthood if not treated. Etiological models emphasize the role of modeling and negative information transmission for the acquisition of the disorder. Even though powerful psychotherapeutic methods exist, referral to treatment is rather uncommon for children. Often spontaneous remission is expected, but that is atypical. Method: The current study developed a psychoeducative program on spiders for elementary school children and evaluated it on a sample of 36 children aged 8 to 10 years. The main goal of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of the program. Results: The study showed a reduction of fear of spiders after psychoeducation in girls and boys with previously high or moderate fear of spiders. Conclusions: The program could become a valuable contribution to the prevention of spider phobia and should be evaluated in future controlled trials.