Why are children afraid of the dark?

Question

Why are children afraid of the dark, in particular more afraid than adults? Is it an evolutionary mechanism? What causes this?

Answer 1

Before tech, our ancestors were constantly on the look-out for predators that wanted nothing more than to chow down on human sandwiches. To make that even scarier, most of these predators hunted at night - a time of day when we are especially vulnerable to attack because of our relatively poor eyesight. 

This means that it was super important for our ancestors to stay safe in the middle of the night. If they didn’t, they’d die. Over the years, this nightly fear became instinctual, and we still experience it today as a form of mild anxiety. This can also be seen as broader fear of the unknown.