The Revised-Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to over 3000 Australian youths, aged 8-16 yrs. Consistent with previous findings, there was a significant age-related decline in fears. Females reported significantly more fears than males. The most common fears were similar to those reported by children and adolescents in the U.S.A. Nuclear war was added to the stimulus items and found to be the most commonly endorsed fear. Thus the self-reports of fear showed a concern for physical danger and harm.

Previous theory and research has linked paranormal beliefs with hypnotizability and dissociative experiences. To investigate this hypothesis the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotizability and Dissociative Experiences Scale were administered to ninety undergraduate students along with the Para normal Scale. Results did not find any significant relationships between scores on the three measures. However, a small negative correlation was found between age and Hynotizability (-.23) and a much stronger negative correlation between age and Dissociation (-.49).

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Using an extended fear survey schedule, 72 per cent of a sample of 8 to 16 year old children and adolescents in Australia reported a lot of fear of nuclear war. Although a high proportion of respondents in all age groups expressed a lot of fear of nuclear war, significantly more respondents in the middle age group (11-13 years) were found to be afraid. Consistent with the findings on children's fears in general, significantly more females than males reported fear of nuclear war. Further research should be undertaken on the impact of the fear of nuclear war on the psychological development of children and adolescents.

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