Projective assessment of the relationships between the salience of death, religion, and age among adults in America

The development and psychometric properties of the Turkish death anxiety scale (TDAS)

The purpose of the present study was to develop the Turkish Death Anxiety Scale (TDAS) and test its initial psychometric properties. Four independent samples participated in the study: 943 college students in item generation, 388 college students in validation, 171 college students in reliability investigation, and 338 adults in cross-validation. Principal component analysis with a varimax rotation revealed that 20 items of the scale contained three factors (i.e., Ambiguity of Death, Exposure to Death, and Agony of Death), which explained over 67% of the total variability. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated acceptable fit. Significant correlations were found between the scale and death anxiety, state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, and hopelessness in the student sample. In the adult sample, death anxiety significantly correlated with trait anxiety. Reliability coefficients were also found acceptable. The authors conclude that the TDAS is a promising instrument in assessing the death anxiety levels in Turkey.

Death Concerns and Symbolic Aspects of the Self: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Status Concern and Religiosity

Terror management theorists have demonstrated that, after thinking about their own death, subjects behave in ways that suggest increased adherence to and defense of prevailing cultural values. The present study extends prior work by assessing the effects of mortality salience on two culturally prescribed value systems: religion and status concern. It was predicted that highly religious and highly status-concerned subjects in the mortality salience condition would report especially high post treatment investments in religion and status concern, respectively. The results partly supported the hypotheses. High status-concerned/highly religious subjects became more status concerned following the mortality salience treatment. The treatment had no significant effects on the post treatment measure of religiosity.

Death anxiety in a national sample of United States funeral directors and its relationship with death exposure, age, and sex

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of death anxiety among a national sample of United States funeral directors with varying levels of death exposure, age, and sex. Utilizing the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS), the results showed a significant, but weak negative relationship between levels of death anxiety and the participants' reported number of funerals attended per year. The correlation between death anxiety scores and the number of reported embalming cases performed yearly was, however, not significant. We found a significant negative correlation between death anxiety and age in both men and women funeral directors. The difference in the death anxiety scores between men (n=166) and women (n=38) funeral directors was not significant. There was a significant negative correlation with age in both men and women in several fears of death including fear of the dying process, fear for significant others, and fear of premature death. The significant negative correlations were stronger for women than men across all three subscales. Results, direction for further research, and implications of the findings for mental health workers are discussed.

Death Anxiety in a National Sample of United States Funeral Directors and its Relationship with Death Exposure, Age, and Sex

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of death anxiety among a national sample of United States funeral directors with varying levels of death exposure, age, and sex. Utilizing the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS), the results showed a significant, but weak negative relationship between levels of death anxiety and the participants' reported number of funerals attended per year. The correlation between death anxiety scores and the number of reported embalming cases performed yearly was, however, not significant. We found a significant negative correlation between death anxiety and age in both men and women funeral directors. The difference in the death anxiety scores between men ( n = 166) and women ( n = 38) funeral directors was not significant. There was a significant negative correlation with age in both men and women in several fears of death including fear of the dying process, fear for significant others, and fear of premature death. The significant negative correlations were stronger for women than men across all three subscales. Results, direction for further research, and implications of the findings for mental health workers are discussed.

Nurses' death anxiety, comfort level during communication with patients and families regarding death, and exposure to communication education: a quantitative study

The first purpose of this study was to determine if a nurse's death anxiety is related to the comfort level of the nurse during communication with patients and families regarding death. The second purpose was to explore whether nurses reported having been exposed to communication education regarding dealing with difficult subjects such as death and whether this exposure was related to comfort level of the nurse during communication with patients and families regarding death. Findings of this study benefit nurse educators and nurses involved in staff development because the results indicate that comfort level of the nurse during communication with patients and families is adversely affected by an increase in the nurse's own death anxiety, and positively affected by exposure to communication education. Thus, these results indicate a need for education in this area. The next step is to identify the most effective type, objectives, and content of this type of education.

The relationship of death anxiety with age and psychosocial maturity

For this study, 194 respondents completed a biographical data sheet, the Templer (1970) Death Anxiety Scale and the Constantinople (1973) Inventory of Psychosocial Development to help assess the relationship among death anxiety, age, and psychosocial maturity. Findings showed that psychosocial maturity was a better predictor of death anxiety than age was. However, both variables were significantly negatively correlated with death anxiety, revealing that as psychosocial maturity and age increase, death anxiety decreases.

Death Attitudes among Mid-Life Women

The relationships between death anxiety, age, developmental concerns, and socioeconomic status were analyzed using a sample of seventy-four women ages thirty through forty-nine who had recently returned to the university. Templer's death anxiety scale as well as a thematic apperception procedure were employed to measure attitudes about death. Concurrent and construct validation of the direct and indirect measures of death yielded different, often complementary results. The factor analysis revealed seven factors–death concern, death anticipation, death as loss, death in physical terms, death as depressing, death denial, and death as a dimension of time–that accounted for 50 percent of the variance. When these factors were used in the regression analysis, developmental factors were the salient issues with death concern, death as interpersonal loss, and death as a dimension of time; age was the sole predicator of death anticipation; and death denial and income were significant with death as physical. No variable predicted death as depressing. These results revealed the multidimensionality of death attitudes and the significance of considering both developmental and socioeconomic influences in predicting death attitudes. In addition, by using indirect as well as direct measures of death, various dimensions of the death construct were identified.