Datsenko T. Psychological Features of Overcoming Fears by Preschool-Aged Children

The dissertation presents theoretical and applied research of natural age related fears' features experienced by older preschool children focusing on the strategies and means of processing these fears in the given age. Being a basic emotion, fear reveals itself in the early years of children's life. Along with natural age related fears, which play different roles in a child's life, the necessary strategies of fear processing, which we term coping strategies, arise equally naturally. These strategies fall into two different groups: strategies of avoiding or strategies of psychological defense which we regard as unproductive coping; strategies of active processing and overcoming fears, which we term as productive coping. Most children, consciously or subconsciously, use both types thus coping with their fears on their own with a certain degree of success. Yet, almost every other child of this age group prefers strategies of avoiding and defense. Psychological-educative guidance of older preschool children concerning overcoming natural fears aims at expanding their productive coping strategies and results in three basic directions: informational-educational, which expands knowledge and ideas of surrounding adults about natural fears of children and specific ways of overcoming them at this age; facilitative, which forms the attitude to accept and support a child's ability to recognize fears; behavioral, which involves expanding child's interpersonal and social contacts with both the adults and peers grounded on common actions, interaction, cooperation and exchange of fear-fighting experience. Each of these directions of influence is self-sufficient and possess its own value, although produce the most positive systemic effect if applied in unity. Further research of natural age related fears of older preschool children, coping strategies and ways of their correction in different social contexts of a child's socialization and development are especially valuable in view of deep informational and social transformations in all spheres of social life where fear is a prevailing adult emotion resulting in their inability to protect their children from it.