Assessment instruments of darkness phobia in children and adolescents: A descriptive review

The fear of darkness is one of the most common motives for consultation among children and adolescents. Several investigations about the evaluation of childrens anxieties or fears have been published. However in the present we have not been able to find a study that specifically reviews the methods used to evaluate darkness phobia. The goal of this article is to review the different evaluation procedures used on children and adolescent treated of darkness phobia. Published studies have been revised and evaluation instruments have been classified into: a) interviews, b) fear inventories, c) fear assessment scales, d) observation test, and e) psychophysical indicators. The theoretical study contains a description of each instrument as well as a review of the application of the instruments in the selected studies. It is concluded that we have many assessment instruments of darkness phobia, but most of them are not standardized. It is necessary to normalize the available instruments to facilitate the clinical practice.

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