Abstract

AGUIRRE GONZALEZ, Medardo Juan; CASTRO MELINE, Marcela; CANDIA CAMPANO, Claudio  and  VELOSO CASTRO, Bárbara. Application of Logistic Regression on the Analysis of Chilean Children's Fears. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2015, vol.14, n.1, pp.17-28. ISSN 1657-9267.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy14-1.aolr.

The research aimed at finding some deciding factors in Chilean children's fears. For carrying out this study, a survey was administered to children be' tween 6 and 11 years old through personal interviews, under their teachers' supervision and parents' permission. The measuring instrument was based on the questionnaire adaptation "Fear Survey for Children; revised, FSSC-R". The sample consisted of 729 children of both genders and from different socioeconomic strata and areas (urban and rural). For its examination, a Factorial Analysis of Main Components was applied, resulting that fears can be grouped into five factors: Daily life, Supernatural facts, Health, Natural disasters and Self-esteem. Thanks to this, a weighted index of fears was built. Through a Logistic Regression Model, some possible deciding factors in children's fears were analysed. For example, it was found that living in the city or in the country is not a significant factor when determining children's fears. On the other hand, the factors that turned out to be significant are: the gender, finding terrifying images on the internet, the socioeconomic level that each child belongs to and, being able to manage on his or her own when the child confronts a frightening event.

Keywords : children's fears; development of fears; psychological vulnerability; negative experiences; logistic regression.

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