Recreational Fear Across Childhood. A Cross-Sectional Study of Scary Activities that Children Enjoy

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of children’s engagement in recreational fear activities — i.e., playful engagement with scary stimuli where both fear and enjoyment are experienced. A detailed survey of 1,600 parents/caregivers (67% female) of children aged 1–17 years (50% female) asked about their child’s enjoyment of recreational fear activities across 19 activity categories, as well as with whom, where and how often they engage in these activities. 93% of children were reported to enjoy at least one recreational fear activity. Distinct age-related trends in engagement were found for different activity types. The results showcase that, despite rarely being studied in children, enjoyment of recreational fear is common across children’s activities and development.