Dr. Coltan Scrivner

So I'd be hesitant to make any really strong claims.

What has been found and some of it, some of the most interesting work is actually stuff that other people have done.

So for example, a group called the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab.

I think they have a lab in Canada and they have a lab in the Netherlands as well.

they have created this game for children who have been diagnosed with clinical anxiety.

And this game is sort of just a scary game that gives feedback on how the child is performing as they move through.

So how anxious they're feeling as they move through.

And it presents them with different scary scenarios that they have the opportunity to safely overcome.

And it teaches them that if you face the things you're afraid of, you can actually move through these difficult feelings.

And what they found is that tends to be as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy in treating anxiety for kids.

So these kids who are playing this scary game are actually treating their anxiety as well as the best therapeutic methods that we've developed.

And there's some other...

evidence that as children have done less and less exploratory, unstructured play and scary play, I would say over the years, rates of anxiety have gone up significantly, let's say in the last 30 or 40 years in the Western world.

And that's coincided with a pretty stark decrease in exploratory, thrilling, unstructured play.

And so some people have argued that those two are directly related.

Now, to your question, is there a certain age at which you should start letting your children maybe watch scary things or read scary books?

I think it depends on the kid, right?

People develop at different stages.

People have different personality profiles that make them more or less interested in those things.

I think the thing I would say is that if your kid is younger and really interested in sort of scary or spooky stuff, it doesn't mean anything is wrong with them.