Booth Id:
BEHA030
Category:
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Year:
2024
Finalist Names:
Donnelly, Maya (School: Somers High School)
Abstract:
Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood characterized by significant socio-emotional, physical, and physiological changes, along with physiological reactivity to emotional signals. Despite the profound impact of fear and anxiety on adolescent mental well-being, research on fear, particularly in terms of acquisition and extinction, remains limited. This lack of understanding contributes to the inadequacy of existing treatments for fear and anxiety disorders in adolescents. This research uses the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R) in a high school context to look into adolescent fear, aiming to enhance treatments. The study explores the prevalence and developmental dynamics of fear, investigating potential variations across demographic factors like age and gender. Volunteers receive overall fear scores, category-specific fear scores, and scores for additional researcher-introduced questions. Utilizing SPSS for analysis, findings indicate significantly higher fear levels among female adolescents (150.47) compared to their male counterparts (119.00), supporting the hypothesis. Age-related scores lack statistical significance, contradicting the hypothesis that fear levels in younger adolescents (47.39) will be higher. Older adolescents (59.18) exhibit, on average, elevated fear levels, warranting further investigation, specifically with possible COVID-19 implications. This study unveils a notable gender-based trend in adolescent fear, mirroring adult patterns, and emphasizes the need for continued research. Future research should involve continuing the study, making the study longitudinal, and getting results from schools all across the country.