Fears and Related Anxieties in

Chinese High School Students

HUIJUN LI and FRANCES PREVATT
Department of Education Psychology and Learning Systems,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

ABSTRACT Chinese students from different high school settings face

unique academic and emotional challenges. They are in a very vulnerable position due to high parent and teacher expectations and pressure
to succeed in college entrance examinations and honour the family and
the school. They are also vulnerable due to possible inappropriate
parenting practices. This study examined whether there were significant differences in the number and type of reported fears and related
anxieties in students from different high schools by grade level and
gender, controlling for perceptions of family atmosphere. This study
also investigated whether, in general, the fears and anxieties selfreported by the Chinese sample differed from the normative sample.
Finally it examined whether the standardized measure of fears was
able to capture the unique fears of Chinese students. The findings
indicate that the level of fears and related anxieties did not differ based
on school and grade. Gender differences were evident. Positive family
atmosphere was related to decreased level of anxiety. Chinese high
school students were found to report higher levels of fears and related
anxieties than their Western counterparts.
KEY WORDS: anxieties; Chinese; family atmosphere; fears; key;

ordinary high schools; private

Studies of fears and related anxieties in children and adolescents have

had a long history in the Western psychological literature. Only since
the last decade, however, have empirical research studies been conducted on fears and related anxieties in school age children and
adolescents in countries like China (e.g. Dong et al., 1994; Ollendick et
al., 1996). Researchers have proposed that culturally loaded factors,
such as beliefs and values associated with parenting practices, may
have an impact on the manifestation of fears and related anxieties (e.g.
Dong et al., 1994; Shore and Rapport, 1998). For example, the most
School Psychology International Copyright 2008 SAGE Publications (Los
Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore), Vol. 29(1): 89104.
DOI: 10.1177/0143034307088505

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School Psychology International (2008), Vol. 29(1)

influential cultural practices in China revolve around Confucian
beliefs (Lee, 1996). Confucian ethics places great emphasis on filial
piety, education and effort (Lee, 1996; Serafica and Schwebel, 1990).
These beliefs reflect the cultural significance of family obligation, conformity to authority figures and high parent and teacher expectations
of students behavioural and academic performance. It has been suggested that cultures that value conformity are frequently associated
with higher levels of parental expectations and control, which in turn,
have been linked with greater fearfulness and anxiety in children and
adolescents (Siqueland et al., 1996).
Conformity to authority figures is often a typical characteristic of
children and adolescents whose parents display an authoritarian
parenting style. In authoritarian families, children often perceive
parent and child interaction as less open and tolerant and more rigid
and tense. Very few studies have investigated the relationship between
perception of family atmosphere and adolescents worries and fears.
Nurmi (1987) found that social interaction in the family had a significant association with adolescents future orientation and worries.
Adolescents reporting a negative family atmosphere (cold, tense,
quarrelsome, unsafe, conservative and authoritarian) had fewer educational plans and more worries than those reporting a positive family
climate (harmonious, safe, warm, supportive, authoritative and tolerant). A recent survey study of 30 million children in China indicates
that 70 percent of parents may use inappropriate parenting practices
(Guang Ming Daily, 2005). More specifically, 30 percent of parents
overcontrol their children, 30 percent overprotect their children and 10
percent use harsh discipline. All three parenting practices are regarded
as inappropriate and may be highly related to fearfulness and anxiety
in children and adolescents.
Coupled with the cultural beliefs and high adult expectations for a
childs school achievement, a unique school system in China may also
contribute to the level of fearfulness and anxiety in Chinese students.
This may be especially true for high school students who experience an
exceptional amount of pressure from teachers and parents to succeed
in college entrance exams. There are three major types of high schools
in China: regular high schools, key high schools and private high
schools, with the former two types being public schools. The three types
of schools have been developed in China to meet the academic needs of
students of varying capabilities and of different family economic
status. From the early 1950s to the 1970s, ordinary high schools were
almost the only type of school providing education to students in the
local community. More recently, the ordinary high schools have served
neighbourhood students who do not make the required cut-off score on
the Midway Exam (an exam that students take during the third and
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Li and Prevatt: Fears and Related Anxieties

last year of middle school). Those who obtain the predetermined score
can go to public-funded key high schools. Alternately, students from
more wealthy families can attend private high schools. All high school
students face tremendous challenges and parent and teacher pressure
to succeed in their college entrance examination, a step that may determine their future career and profession.
Most key high schools appeared in the 1970s in China after a
decrease in political turmoil and the establishment of new open-door
economic reform policies. Compared with regular and private high
schools, key high schools are equipped with the best teachers, sufficient
funding and the best learning environment for the academically
advanced and highly motivated students who are more likely to enter
top universities around the country. Academic demands are the most
challenging and competition among students is the fiercest in key high
schools (Cui et al., 1998; Xiang, 2005). As a result, although students in
key high schools are usually high-achieving students and they
have higher expectations for their academic and career success than
students in ordinary high schools, key school students reportedly
experience more academic and career related fears than ordinary high
school students (Chen and Zhang, 2003).
Private high schools have contributed greatly to the Chinese education system in providing educational opportunities to students.
However, there are some challenging issues facing these schools. First,
there is a lack of supervision and quality control from the government.
Second, the overall teaching quality of private high schools is not as
high as key high schools. Third, there is a lack of good administrators
and some schools are facing recruitment problems. These problems
have led to negative social attitudes toward these schools, which may
indirectly affect private school students mental health (Wang, 2005).
Students from each type of school face unique challenges; however,
they all endure strong pressure from parents and teachers to succeed
academically, which may affect their emotional well-being. Very few
studies have compared the level of fearfulness and anxiety among
ordinary, key and private high schools in China. The existing studies
have only compared regular and key high schools and the studies have
yielded mixed findings. Zhang et al. (2003) investigated the mental
health of key high school students in East China and found that
key high school students had a significantly higher score on anxiety
measures than the national youth norm. Li and Zhu (2005) studied
the mental health of private high school students in the Hunan
province (central China) and reported that private high school students
had a significantly higher score than the Chinese national norm on
eight items: compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety,
hostility, fear, paranoid ideation and psychosis. One explanation was
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School Psychology International (2008), Vol. 29(1)

that parents had paid more money for their children to go to private
schools and they expected higher scores from their children. If children
cannot meet their parents expectations to achieve academically, they
may become fearful and anxious (Li and Zhu, 2005). Zhang et al. (2000)
found that the anxiety and fear levels of high school students did not
differ based on gender, grade or type of schools. Alternately, Su et al.
(2002) found the prevalence rate of anxiety among ordinary high
school students to be significantly higher than among key high school
students. Ordinary high school students had a significantly higher
score than key high school students on items such as feelings of failure
and guilt, work difficulty and lack of appetite. The researchers believed
that ordinary high school students faced more college entrance exam
pressure and less academic support, which may have led to higher
levels of anxiety. Finally, Dai (1996) studied anxiety in ordinary and
key high school students. The results were mixed, but findings indicated more anxiety among students in higher grades, in key high school
students compared to ordinary high schools and in females compared to
males.
In summary, Chinese students from ordinary, key and private
high schools face unique academic and emotional challenges and pressure, but they all may be in a very vulnerable position due to high
parent and teacher expectations and pressure to succeed in college
entrance exams and honour the family and the school. They are also
vulnerable due to possible inappropriate parenting practices. Very few
existing studies have examined the relationships between type of high
school, grade level, gender and fears and related anxieties. Results
have been inconsistent. Furthermore, there is no literature on whether
perceptions of family interaction might moderate these relationships.
Finally, many studies of fears and anxieties use measures standardized on Western students, which may not be able to capture the unique
cultural implications in Chinese samples. Thus, there were three major
purposes for this study. The first goal was to examine whether there
was a significant difference in the number and type of reported fears
and related anxieties in students from different high schools by grade
level and gender, controlling for perceptions of family climate. This
analysis utilized standardized measures of fears and anxieties and a
measure of perception of family atmosphere. The second goal was to
examine whether, in general, the level of fears and anxieties selfreported by the Chinese sample differed from the normative sample of
Western students. This analysis also utilized standardized measures
of fears and anxieties. The third goal was to examine whether the
standardized measure of fears was able to capture the unique fears of
Chinese students. This analysis used an open-ended measure of fears.

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Li and Prevatt: Fears and Related Anxieties

Methods
Participants
The present study was conducted in Dingzhou County, Hebei Province
in northern China. Dingzhou is located about 200 kilometres south of
Beijing, the capital of China. This county is situated on flat plains and
is surrounded by farmland. Thus, most of its residents are farmers.
Four hundred and fifty students participated in this study, with 150
from an ordinary high school, 150 from a key high school and 150 from
a private high school. Both the ordinary high school and key high
school are funded by the county, which receives education funding from
the regional government. However, the key high school receives more
funding and enjoys much better facilities than the ordinary high
school, such as new multimedia classrooms with closed circuit TVs,
high tech language and computer labs and advanced sports centres.
Furthermore, the teachers of this key high school are from top universities in the Hebei Province or have distinguished themselves as
having the best teaching methods in the county, whereas the teachers
in the ordinary high school are mostly from two-year colleges and have
obtained their Bachelors degree through continued education. The private school is funded through student tuition fees. Most of the teachers
of the private school have a four-year college degree. There are three
grade levels in Chinese high schools. There were about nine classes in
each grade in the ordinary and key high schools and four classes
in each grade in the private school. There was an average of 70 to 80
students in each class. In all schools (ordinary, key and private), students remained together throughout the day in the same class, with
different teachers for different subjects. However, the students in each
classroom remained intact. For each type of school one class was
randomly selected from each grade and 50 students from those selected
classes were again randomly selected to participate in the study.
Among the total participants, there were 223 (49.6 percent) female
students and 219 (48.7 percent) male students (eight students did not
report their gender). Age of participants ranged from 16 to 22 (M =
18.45, SD = 1.15). Parent education level ranged from elementary
school to graduate level, with 19.2 percent elementary school, 34.4
percent middle school, 31.1 percent high school and 7.3 percent college
and graduate level. Eight percent of students did not report parent
education level. Ninety-four percent of the students reported that
they were from intact families and 1.8 percent indicated their parents
were divorced; the rest (4.2 percent) did not report family status.
Among all participants, 81.6 percent had at least one sibling while 14.4
percent reported being the only child of the family (this is typical of
rural places in China where parents manage to have a second child in
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spite of the one-child policy reinforced by the Chinese government from
the 1970s).
Assessment instruments
The Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R). The FSSC-R
(Ollendick, 1983) is an 80-item fear schedule for children and adolescents aged 7 to 17. Previous studies have used it for adolescents above
17 years of age and found similar sound psychometric properties (e.g.
Schaefer et al., 2003). Respondents indicate their level of fear for
each of the 80 stimulus items using a three-point scale (None, Some
or A Lot). The FSSC-R measures specific fears in the categories of
school, home, social, physical, animal, travel and miscellaneous. A
five-factor solution based on factor analysis has been reported for the
schedule: fear of failure and criticism, fear of the unknown, fear of
minor injury and small animals, fear of danger and death and medical
fears (Ollendick et al., 1989).
The FSSC-R was translated into Chinese in 1994 (Dong et al. 1994).
One item in the FSSC-R was changed in the translation (Item 73,
Russia was changed to A foreign country). The items were then translated literally back into English and two of the authors (Yang and
Ollendick) resolved discrepancies in intended meanings and wording of
the items. The reading level of the items is appropriate for students in
the first grade and beyond (Dong et al., 1994).
Psychometric data on the FSSC-R suggests adequate reliability and
validity. According to Ollendick (1983), the FSSC-R possesses high
internal consistency ranging from 0.92 to 0.95 and testretest reliability at 0.82 (1 week) and 0.55 (3 months). The present study used a
total fear score (80240) and the subscale for fear of failure and
criticism. Because this study dealt with school related fear, the other
subscales (e.g. animals, medical, death, unknown) were not utilized.
Internal consistency reliability with the current study was assessed on
the FSSC-R total score and the fear of failure and criticism subscale
score. The analysis yielded an alpha coefficient of 0.94 for the total
score indicating high internal consistency. Internal consistency for the
fear of failure and criticism was 0.83.
Revised Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS): The RCMAS
(Reynolds and Richmond, 1985, 2000) is a well-normed instrument
for children and adolescents of 5 to 19 years of age, consisting of 37
Yes or No items (28 anxiety items and 9 Lie scale items). A similar
procedure was followed by Dong et al. (1994) in translating the RCMAS
into Chinese. The RCMAS was designed to assess the presence of
generalized and nonspecific/nonsituational anxiety (i.e. trait anxiety).
The RCMAS yields four anxiety scores: total anxiety score, physiological anxiety, worry/oversensitivity and concentration. Coefficients of
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Li and Prevatt: Fears and Related Anxieties

congruence across ethnic and gender groups ranged from 0.96 to 0.99
(Reynolds and Richmond, 1997). Reported internal consistency coefficients across ages ranged from 0.78 to 0.87. Concurrent and construct
validity studies of the RCMAS indicate correlations ranging from
0.78 to 0.85 between the RCMAS and the A-Trait scale of the STAIC
(Crowley and Emerson, 1996). The alpha coefficients with the current
Chinese sample ranged from 0.70 to 0.82 (Total Anxiety, 0.82; physiological, 0.70; worry/oversensitivity, 0.76 and concentration, 0.80).
Open Ended Measure of Students Fears. In order to explore whether
Chinese high school students had experienced fears that could not be
captured by the FSSC-R, students were asked to name the most fearful
things that they had experienced. This was done in an open-ended
format. The majority of students listed three to five fearful things. Of
the sample of 450, 50 students (11 percent) did not report any fears on
this measure. A total of 125 different feared items were reported by the
students.
Student Perception of Family Atmosphere. Students were provided
with two qualitative dimensions of family atmosphere (Nurmi, 1987).
Words describing positive family atmosphere included harmonious,
safe, warm, supportive, authoritative and tolerant. Negative family
atmosphere included quarrelsome, unsafe, cold, tense, authoritarian
and intolerant. Students were asked to choose any words from the two
dimensions that represented the perceptions of their family atmosphere. A positive score was obtained by totalling the number of positive
items endorsed (06) and a negative score was obtained by totalling the
negative items endorsed (06). Because these two scores were significantly inversely correlated (r = 0.40, p < 0.01), only the positive family
atmosphere score was used in subsequent analyses.
Procedure
The administration of the measures was conducted in classroom settings in a group format following the standard administration
procedures. The order of measures was the same across all students.
The classroom teacher and the first author walked around the classroom to provide assistance and to ensure independent and confidential
responding. Forty-five minutes of class time were used to complete the
measures. In each class, 50 students participated in the study and the
remaining students (2030 non-participants) worked at their desk on
other assignments.

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Results
Analysis of grade, school and gender effects
Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was used to evaluate the effects of grade (first, second and third year of high school), type
of school (ordinary, key, and private) and gender on fears and anxieties.
Dependent measures were the FSSC-R total fears scale and the
subscale for fear of failure and criticism; as well as the RCMAS total
anxiety scale and the subscales for physiological anxiety, worry/
oversensitivity and concentration. An initial correlational analysis
indicated that perception of positive family atmosphere was significantly correlated with four of the six dependent variables: total
anxiety(r = 0.23), physiological anxiety (r = 0.17), worry/oversensitivity (r = 0.20) and concentration anxiety (r = 0.18). Therefore, the
perception of positive family atmosphere was used as a covariate.
Because the dependent variables were subsets of one another, two
separate MANCOVAs were utilized; one for the total scores (total fears,
total anxieties) and one for the subscales (fear of failure, physiological
anxiety, worry/oversensitivity and concentration anxiety).
Total scores. A preliminary analysis evaluating the homogeneity-ofslopes assumption indicated that the relationship between positive
parenting and the dependent variables (total anxiety, total fears) did
not differ significantly as a function of grade, school and gender, F (34,
830) = 0.91, p = 0.62, 2 = 0.03. The MANCOVA indicated a significant
main effect for gender F (2, 419) = 44.99, p = 0.00, 2 = 0.18. Analysis of
between subjects effects showed that on total fears, females (adjusted
M = 137.81) endorsed significantly more total fears than males
(adjusted M = 123.00). There were no significant effects for type of
school or grade level on total fears, and there were no significant effects
for any of the independent variables on total anxiety. The effect of the
covariate (positive family atmosphere) accounted for 5 percent of the
variance of gender with fears.
Subscales. A preliminary analysis evaluating the homogeneity-ofslopes assumption indicated that the relationship between positive
parenting and the dependent variables (fear of failure, physiological
anxiety, worry/oversensitivity, concentration anxiety) did not differ
significantly as a function of grade, school and gender F (68,1660) =
0.68, p = 0.97, 2 = 0.03. The MANCOVA indicated a significant main
effect for gender F (4, 417) = 7.85, p = 0.00, 2 = 0.07. Analysis of
between subjects effects showed that on fear of failure and criticism,
females (adjusted M = 42.15) reported greater fears than males
(adjusted M = 39.36). Alternately, for concentration anxiety, males
(adjusted M = 2.59) reported greater anxiety than females (adjusted M
= 2.29). There were no significant effects for type of school or grade
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level on any of the anxiety subscales. The effect of the covariate (positive family atmosphere) accounted for 1 percent of the variance of
gender with fear of failure and 3 percent of the variance of gender with
concentration anxiety. Means, Standard Deviations and statistical
analyses can be obtained from the first author.
Comparison of fears and anxieties to normative sample
The mean fear and anxiety scores for the total sample were compared
to the normative data for the FSSC-R and the RCMAS. One sample
t-tests were computed for all comparisons. On total fears, the Chinese
sample reported more fears (M = 130.92) than the normative sample
(M = 125.00), t = 6.54 (1, 449), p < 0.00. On fear of failure and criticism,
the Chinese sample reported more fears, (M = 40.84) than the normative sample (M = 39.00) t = 6.16 (1, 449), p < 0.00. Results indicated that
on total anxiety, the Chinese sample reported more anxiety (M = 10.53)
than the normative sample, (M = 8.67), t = 8.41 (1, 449), p < 0.00. On
worry/oversensitivity, the Chinese sample reported more anxieties (M
= 5.09) than the normative sample, (M = 4.81), t = 2.37 (1,449), p < 0.02.
On physiological anxiety, the Chinese sample reported fewer anxieties
(M = 2.99) than the normative sample, (M = 4.10), t = 13.75 (1, 449),
p < 0.00. Finally, on concentration, the Chinese sample reported fewer
anxieties (M = 2.45) than the normative sample (M = 2.80), t = 4.63
(1, 449), p < 0.00.
Qualitative analysis of self-reported fears
A total of 125 unique fears were reported by the participants on the
open-ended measure of fears. Frequency analyses of the most common
things that Chinese high school students reported being afraid of were
conducted at the item level. The most commonly reported feared items
involved school (three items regarding failing tests or exams, teacher
criticism), interpersonal concerns (being misunderstood, lonely or
despised; losing friends) and family concerns (parents quarrelling,
angry or ill). The most commonly reported fears were endorsed by
an average of 10 percent of the students. The items regarding school
failure and family concerns are similar to items on the FSSC-R; however, the items regarding interpersonal concerns are not areas covered
by the FSSC-R. There were some fears that are clearly unique to a
Chinese sample, such as Taiwan independence, corruption and lack of
financial support; however, these were of very low frequency and
endorsed by less than 1 percent of students.

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Discussion
Contrary to expectation, type of school and grade level did not significantly affect the fears and related anxieties in this population of
Chinese high school students. However, there were significant gender
effects. Chinese females reported more fears of failure and criticism, as
well as total fears, than did Chinese males. Alternately, males reported
more concentration anxiety than females. While positive parenting
was not directly related to self-report of fears, there were significant
correlations between positive parenting and lowered anxiety on all four
anxiety scales. Additionally, positive parenting accounted for significant variance in the relationship between gender and fears. The gender
effects were similar to previous work in which girls reported higher
levels of specific fears and related anxieties (e.g. Dong et al., 1994; Li
and Morris, in press; Schaefer et al., 2003; Su et al., 2002). The finding
for greater fears of failure and total fears by girls may be related to
different reporting styles. For example, Sutton and Farrall (2005),
found that males and females were affected differently by social
pressure to downplay fears. Specifically, males were more likely to
under-report their fears even though they experience similar levels of
fears as females. Another possible explanation for female students
higher level of fears of failure and total fears was that female students
might not handle such emotional stress as criticism from teachers and
parents and failure in school work and exams as well as male students,
which could increase their level of fears. In addition, researchers
examining gender differences in motivation to succeed found male high
school students were more focused on personal achievement and
success and less fearful of failure and females, on the other hand, were
more fearful of failure and their level of motivation to succeed was
significantly lower than males (Chen and Zhang, 2003).
The finding of greater concentration anxiety by boys was consistent
with previous studies (e.g. Wang et al., 1998). It may also be related
to different reporting styles. This could be the case for the Chinese
sample, where an inability to concentrate may be more socially acceptable than admitting to a fear of specific events. An alternate
explanation could be that parents in the Chinese culture placed higher
expectations on their sons to succeed in school and to honour the
family. This exerted tremendous pressure on students, especially male
students. Such pressure may serve as a double-edged sword, which
both motivates student to succeed and distracts them from their study
(Wang, 2004).
Compared to the norms and previous studies in the United States,
Chinese students indicated significantly more fears of failure and
criticism, total fears, total anxiety and anxiety related to worry/oversensitivity. As discussed earlier, cultures that purportedly stress
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inhibition, emotional restraint and obedience are linked to increased
levels of fearfulness and anxiety in youth (Shore and Rapport, 1998;
Siqueland et al., 1996). While the present study did not find differences
among the Chinese sample due to type of high school and grade level,
the normative findings do support the hypothesis that there are more
fears and anxieties, in general, among this sample. It may be that the
pressure of high school, as well as the family atmosphere, contributes
to this overall heightened level of fear. This is supported by the openended analysis of most feared items. Among 125 different items
reported, those that made the top ten were getting a low test score,
failing an exam, failing an entrance exam, criticism from teachers,
parents quarrelling and parents getting angry at the student. Thus, it
can be speculated that Chinese students higher level of fears and
anxieties, compared to Western norms, is in fact due to school and
parent related pressure.
Compared to the normative sample, Chinese students self-reported
lower levels of anxiety related to concentration and physiological discomfort. Concentration has always been emphasized by teachers and
parents as an effective study skill/strategy in Chinese schools and it
has been regarded as one major personal factor that affects student
achievement. In fact, the ability to concentrate is considered as a major
resource which facilitates information intake and processing. High
school is a stage when students face more frequent tests and the content information from different classes demands tremendous attention
and concentration. Students may become accustomed to the demands
for concentration as a prerequisite of learning and thus they are more
likely to concentrate on their school work, although there exists a
gender difference in the level of concentration anxiety as described
above. The finding that Chinese high school students reported comparatively lower levels of physiological anxiety than US counterparts was
somewhat unanticipated. Many researchers indicate that Chinese, like
some other Asian populations, tend to complain of physical discomfort
when they experience emotional distress, such as fears and anxieties
(e.g. Sue and Sue, 2003). Future research is needed to explore further
this result.
An important question is whether the standardized measures based
on American samples are adequate for determining the actual fears of
Chinese students. In order to evaluate this, we compared items on the
FSSC-R to items endorsed by Chinese students on the open ended
question, What are the things that you fear the most?. One of the most
frequently cited fears was getting a low test score. When combined with
similar items (failing an exam or failing an entrance exam), this area
was clearly the most feared by Chinese students. Similar concerns are
evident on the FSSC-R, as indicted by the item, failing a test. Parental
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concerns were also frequently detailed by Chinese students, such as
parents quarrelling, parents getting angry with the student and
parents becoming ill or dying. Similar content can be seen on the
FSSC-R with items such as having my parents argue or getting
punished by my mother/father. The third area that was commonly
endorsed by the Chinese students involved personal and interpersonal
areas. These included being misunderstood (tied for the most frequently endorsed item), feeling lonely, despised by others and losing
friends. Items addressing similar content are not included on the
FSSC-R. This does not necessarily imply that American high school
students are not concerned about these issues. In fact, the literature on
US samples tends to find that the most commonly feared areas for
high school students include social, academic and health-related fears
(Barrios and Hartman, 1997; Morris and Kratochwill, 1998). However,
the FSSC-R does not specifically tap these social and interpersonal
areas. As such, research with Chinese populations may need to include
alternate measures, as this is clearly an area of great concern to these
students.

Implications and directions for research

Students from ordinary, key and private high schools in this study
seem to share similar levels of fears and related anxieties, in spite of
their differential learning environments. The results also show that
students reporting positive family atmosphere may experience lower
levels of anxieties. Family environment and parent support are crucial
to childrens growth and development. Zou (1999) found in her study
that parents were the most important supporting figures for middle
and high school students in addition to teachers and friends. Unfortunately, parents were also the people who exerted the most severe
punishment on their children. The survey presented earlier suggests
that 70 percent of parents in China use inappropriate parenting styles
which have inadvertently increased childrens fears and related anxieties (Liu et al., 2005). Thus, it is essential that parents adjust their
parenting style through education programs so that their children can
grow in a warm, supportive and authoritative family environment.
Females seem to have reported higher levels of fears. Parents,
educators and psychologists should be aware that it may be more
socially acceptable for girls to express their fears than boys, thus, it
may not necessarily mean that boys do not experience as many fears as
girls (Li and Morris, in press). Fear of failure on exams has been shown
to lead to anxiety and depression, which are risk factors for suicide in
the Chinese population (Crystal et al., 1994). In fact, poor academic
performance has been found to be the only consistent social association
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related to suicide, and has therefore influenced the Zhejiang Provincial
Education Commission to reduce the frequency of administering exams
(Hesketh et al., 2002). In addition, teachers should be aware that male
students reported higher levels of concentration anxiety. If needed,
anxiety reduction techniques should be in place to ease their heightened level of concentration anxiety.
Self-report is a subjective and indirect way to determine the existence of fears and related anxieties. It requires the individual to reflect
back on his or her inner world, his or her experience, thoughts and
expectations. Self-report has been regarded as an important source of
data to define, assess and treat fears and related anxieties, because an
individuals inner thoughts and cognitive activities cannot be directly
measured by direct observational instruments (Barrios and Hartman,
1997; Li, 2004; Morris and Kratochwill, 1998). However, as with any
unstructured fear and anxiety questionnaires, it is not known to what
degree we measure veridical differences in fear and anxiety or a willingness to endorse fear and anxiety stimuli on the questionnaires
(Shore and Rapport, 1998). Direct comparisons of different methodologies to study students fears and anxieties may be an important
topic for future investigations.
China is a nation with vast regional and urban and rural differences
in terms of economic and educational status. Participants for this study
were recruited from one region. Thus, generalization of these results to
similar populations requires additional replication with larger samples
from different regions. Furthermore, few studies have compared
student, teacher and parent ratings of students fears and anxieties
using the same assessment instruments to determine how well the
ratings of these different informants correlate with each other (Li and
Morris, in press). Therefore, more research is warranted in this area.
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Huijun Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational

Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University. Her
research interests and publications are in the area of assessment of
fears and anxieties of children and adolescents from different ethnic,
cultural and language backgrounds. She also specializes in home,
school and personal factors contributing to childrens fears and
anxieties and their academic performance. Address: Department of
Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, College of Education,
307 Stone Building, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 323064453, USA. Email: hli@coe.fsu.edu
Frances Prevatt is a Professor in the Department of Educational
Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University. She is
also co-director of the Adult Learning Evaluation Center. Her research
interests and major publications are in the areas of ADHD in adults

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School Psychology International (2008), Vol. 29(1)

and personality assessment in children and adults. Address: Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, College of
Education, 307 Stone Building, Florida State University, Tallahassee,
FL 32306-4453, USA. Email: fprevatt@coe.fsu.edu

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