Prevalence, main components and ways of acquisition of fear of flying

Abstract

In this study we examined the prevalence, components and ways of acquisition of fear of flying in a sample of 523 subjects from the general population. Subjects were given several questionnaires to determine intensity and history of the fear. Sixty-nine subjects (13 %) were fearful flyers and an additional 14 % suffered important distress when flying but were not phobics. The main component of the fear of flying was the fear of having an accident (22%) followed by the fear of not having control of the situation. Anyway, most of the subjects attributed their fear to more than one component. Regarding the ways of acquisition, in more than a 50 % from the subjects the fear onset was not associated with any clear trigger. Our results suggest that fear of flying cannot be regarded as a unitary fear. Nosologic and treatment implications are discussed.