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Kolhberg (1966) suggested that uncertainty about body integrity was more plausibly explained by cognitive factors than by the psychoanalytic theory of castration anxiety. This hypothesis leads to the prediction that children who understand the concept of anatomical constancy would show less anxiety in relation to threats to the body's integrity than children who have not yet attained the concept. The results of this study are not consistent with Kolhberg's cognitive developmental prediction
Additionally, the results of this study also reveal significant relationships between children's level of anxiety in response to threats to the body's integrity and age (or stage of development). Those subjects showing the highest level of anxiety were in the 3 to 5-year-old age group, the period referred to by psychoanalysts as the phallic period. This finding is consistent with the prediction derived from Freudian psychosexual theory which posits that 3-to 5-year-old children would be particularly sensitive to threats to the integrity and unity of their bodies.