Worry in Children: Changing Associations With Fear, Thinking, and Problem-Solving

Worry in adults has been conceptualized as a thinking process involving problem-solving attempts about anticipated negative outcomes. This process is related to, though distinct from, fear. Previous research suggested that compared to adults, children's experience of worry is less strongly associated with thinking and more closely related to fear. The present study further explored children's worrying. Ninety-three 7- to 12-year-olds rated how much they worry, fear and think about the same list of negative outcomes, and reported on their positive beliefs about worrying. Children associated worrying more strongly with fear than with thinking. However, this relationship was moderated by age. Older children reported that worry was more closely related to thinking and less closely related to fear. Furthermore, children who reported more thinking, rather than fear, about negative outcomes were also more likely to report that worrying had beneficial effects. Results suggest important changes in the nature of worrying during late childhood.