The development and psychometric evaluation of the fear experiences questionnaire: An attempt to disentangle the fear and anxiety constructs

Indicative of the lack of knowledge that exists regarding the underlying processes of fear and anxiety experiences is the debate about whether they are the same or separate constructs. Some researchers distinguish anxiety from fear arguing that anxiety has a diffuse nature whereas fear is stimulus-specific. Others argue that there is no difference between the two, however, the debate is clouded by the fact that each construct is measured in ways which relate to this superficial distinction. We report two studies. The first study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Fear Experiences Questionnaire (FEQ) which was constructed in order to assess fear in a manner consistent with the assessment of anxiety. This study involved a sample of 245 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. In study 2, a slightly refined FEB was administered to a sample of 901 adolescents along with the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-II, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The FEQ was found to have good reliability and validity. On the basis of a principal components analysis, including both fear and anxiety items, it was concluded that fear and anxiety are related but separate constructs. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.