The prevalence of fear was explored in 340 adolescents in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. More than 50% reported feeling extremely frightened of 6 out of 60 fear items surveyed. These items were: someone dying in the family (66.5%), parents getting divorced (65.3%), the devil (63.8%), breaking a religious law (61.5%), being kidnapped (53.2%) and being adopted (49.9%). The level of fear showed a significant positive correlation with female gender, parental death/divorce, living with a single parent/relatives, living in low income families and an adverse home environment. Nearly half of the children reported that the fear caused considerable distress and interfered with daily activities.