Participants included nine children and their mothers recruited
from the local community. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (a)
child between the ages of 5 and 7 years at the beginning of treatment,
and (b) meet criteria for a diagnosis of specific phobia of
the dark/alone according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Health Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revised (DSM-IVTR,
2004). Exclusion criteria were: receptive vocabulary below 80
(as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), acute psychotic
symptoms or mood disorders, and involvement in current
treatment for nighttime fears.