“Fear can go to sleep!” A one-session group intervention for children with fear of the dark and scary characters

“Fear can go to sleep!” A one-session group intervention for children with fear of the dark and scary characters - GOST-KID2

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00032834

Enrollment

Registered

2024-01-23

Start date

2024-02-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

DSM-5: 300.29 Specific Phobia

Interventions

Group 1: Exposure-based one-session group intervention for children with fear of the dark or scary characters without parental involvement

approx. 5 hours Group 2: Exposure-based one-session group intervention for children with fear of the dark or scary characters with additional parent training on dysfunctional cognitions regarding the

approx. 5 hours

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

6 Years to 10 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: (1) Age between 6 and 10 years (2) At least subclinical fear of the dark oder scary figures (3) Knowledge of the german language (4) Availability of at least one parent, informed consent of both parents of the child

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: (1) Acute suicidality, psychosis, addictive disorder (2) Current treatment for anxiety disorders (3) General medical contraindication (4) Hearing problems, neurological disorders or color-blindness (5) Traumatic event as cause of fear

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
multi-informant approach (children, parents, clinican) Kinder-DIPS: Diagnosis and rating of degree of severity. Assessement is conducted pre therapy and 1-months follow-up (only diagnosis which were fulfilled pre therapy) Clinical Global Impression: Extent of improvement / deterioration in comparison to Basline (pre-assessment) respectively in comparison to pre-therapy (assessments post intervention and at 1-month and 6-months follow-up) BEE/BEL (Sheehan Disability Scale): Impairment/ Disability Assessement is conducted at baseline, pre therapy, post therapy, 1-month and 6-months follow-up AASC-C (Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Childhood Anxiety Situations): Anxiety and Avoidance in specific situations Assessement is conducted at baseline, pre therapy, post therapy as well as 1-month and 6-months follow-up. 2-day eyeblink-paradigm: first day acquisition of the CS pairings, the following day consolidation of the acquired content in the same context and subsequent extinction in a different context, renewal test	—

Measure

Time frame

multi-informant approach (children, parents, clinican) Kinder-DIPS: Diagnosis and rating of degree of severity. Assessement is conducted pre therapy and 1-months follow-up (only diagnosis which were fulfilled pre therapy) Clinical Global Impression: Extent of improvement / deterioration in comparison to Basline (pre-assessment) respectively in comparison to pre-therapy (assessments post intervention and at 1-month and 6-months follow-up) BEE/BEL (Sheehan Disability Scale): Impairment/ Disability Assessement is conducted at baseline, pre therapy, post therapy, 1-month and 6-months follow-up AASC-C (Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Childhood Anxiety Situations): Anxiety and Avoidance in specific situations Assessement is conducted at baseline, pre therapy, post therapy as well as 1-month and 6-months follow-up. 2-day eyeblink-paradigm: first day acquisition of the CS pairings, the following day consolidation of the acquired content in the same context and subsequent extinction in a different context, renewal test

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Multi-informant approach (parents and children) Assessment points: BL: At diagnostic assessment Pre: Pre therapy Post: directly after therapy FU1: 1-month follow-up FU2: 6-months follow-up Assessment points for eyeblink-paradigm: 1st day: at diagnostic assessment 2nd day: within 7 days after the diagnostic assessment diagnosis-specific symptoms (anxiety): SCAS (Spence`s Children`s Anxiety Scale) : anxiety (BL, FU1 und FU2) Fear of the dark and avoidance based on specific standardized situations (children only, BL, pre, post, FU1 und FU2): Below you find situations that are associated with the dark or scary characters. Please state for each of the situations, how much you fear the situation and how much you avoid it. - sleep alone in the dark. - go to the loo in the evening when it is dark - go out in the dark - go into the hallway when it is dark there - see a scary character overaching symptoms and SMFQ (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire): depressive symptoms (BL, FU1 and FU2) General self-efficacy (pre, post, FU1, FU2) Self-efficacy questionnaire for phobic situations: Specific self-efficacy in phobic situations (pre, post, FU1, FU2) expectancy of change (child only) (BL) CBQ-36 (Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire): temperament of the child (parents only) (BL) Use of media FAS (Family Affluence Scale): Socio-economic status (child only) (BL) Parenting style: OP (Overprotection): (parents only) (BL, FU1 and FU2) Parental psychopathology/cognitions (parents only; BL, FU1 and FU2): DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales): Psychopathological symptoms of parents regarding depression, anxiety and stress PSOC (Parenting Sense of Competence Scale): Parental self-efficacy PMH-Scale (Positive Mental Health Scale): Positive mental health of parents GSE Scale (General Self Efficacy Scale): General self-efficacy of parents Parental psychopathology/cognitions (parents only; BL, pre, post, FU1 and F	—

Measure

Time frame

Multi-informant approach (parents and children) Assessment points: BL: At diagnostic assessment Pre: Pre therapy Post: directly after therapy FU1: 1-month follow-up FU2: 6-months follow-up Assessment points for eyeblink-paradigm: 1st day: at diagnostic assessment 2nd day: within 7 days after the diagnostic assessment diagnosis-specific symptoms (anxiety): SCAS (Spence`s Children`s Anxiety Scale) : anxiety (BL, FU1 und FU2) Fear of the dark and avoidance based on specific standardized situations (children only, BL, pre, post, FU1 und FU2): Below you find situations that are associated with the dark or scary characters. Please state for each of the situations, how much you fear the situation and how much you avoid it. - sleep alone in the dark. - go to the loo in the evening when it is dark - go out in the dark - go into the hallway when it is dark there - see a scary character overaching symptoms and SMFQ (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire): depressive symptoms (BL, FU1 and FU2) General self-efficacy (pre, post, FU1, FU2) Self-efficacy questionnaire for phobic situations: Specific self-efficacy in phobic situations (pre, post, FU1, FU2) expectancy of change (child only) (BL) CBQ-36 (Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire): temperament of the child (parents only) (BL) Use of media FAS (Family Affluence Scale): Socio-economic status (child only) (BL) Parenting style: OP (Overprotection): (parents only) (BL, FU1 and FU2) Parental psychopathology/cognitions (parents only; BL, FU1 and FU2): DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales): Psychopathological symptoms of parents regarding depression, anxiety and stress PSOC (Parenting Sense of Competence Scale): Parental self-efficacy PMH-Scale (Positive Mental Health Scale): Positive mental health of parents GSE Scale (General Self Efficacy Scale): General self-efficacy of parents Parental psychopathology/cognitions (parents only; BL, pre, post, FU1 and F

—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactLina;Svenja Neuhoff;Schaumburg

Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum für psychische Gesundheit der Ruhr-Universität Bochum;Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum für psychische Gesundheit der Ruhr-Universität Bochum

lina.neuhoff@rub.de;svenja.schaumburg@rub.de+49 (0) 2343223181;+49 (0) 2343223841

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026