Are Death Anxiety and Death Depression Distinct Entities?

Abstract

Subjective distress about the matter of death is widely recognized by thanatology scholars to be multiple faceted. Although there are several instruments that assess anxiety or fear regarding death, until recently there had been no instrument reported in the literature for measuring depression pertaining to death. In the present study the fifteen-item Death Anxiety Scale and the more recently constructed seventeen-item Death Depression Scale were correlated, and their combined thirty-two items were factor analyzed. The two scales correlated .55. Factor 1 was labeled “death anxiety” and its five highest factor loadings were with Death Anxiety Scale items. Factor 2 was labeled “death depression” and its five highest factor loadings were with Death Depression Scale items. Factors 3 and 4 each had the highest factor loadings on both Death Anxiety Scale and Death Depression Scale items and were respectively called “death of others” and “brevity of life.” Factor 5 was called “meaning-lessness of life” and its highest factor loadings were with Death Depression Scale items. It was concluded that the two death attitude instruments do have discriminant validity in relationship to each other. Also, suggestions were made for the combined use of these two scales.

Measuring attitudes towards the dying process: A systematic review of tools

“…For another eight tools, the student sample was either complemented by a sample of older people (nursing home residents, mean age 82 years), 79 of nursing professionals 63 or a general adult community sample. 34,48,55,84,88 Of 32 measures, 49,65,75,82,83,87 6 were developed and 2 60,71 were validated within an age-representative community sample. Mazor et al 51 developed the Concerns About Dying (CAD) instrument specialized for the use in health care providers, using hospice nurses and medical and nursing students as sample for scale construction.…”

Cronbach's α reliability, concurrent validity, and factorial structure of the Death Depression Scale in an Iranian hospital staff sample

“…Roshdieh, Templer, Cannon, and Canfield (1998–1999) showed a relationship of death anxiety and death depression with religion and civilian war-related experiences in Iranians [31]. Alvarado, Templer, Bresler, and Thomas-Dobson (1992, 1995) found that religious variables related to death depression and death anxiety [44], [45]. Lo, Hales, Zimmermann, Gagliese, Rydall, et al.…”

Attitude towards Euthanasia in Relation to Death Anxiety among a Sample of 343 Nurses in India

“…The validity and reliability based on samples of different nationalities were reported to be satisfactory (Warren & Chopra, 1979;McDonald & Carroll, 1981). Templer (1970) Devins (1979) yielded five factors: (i) Fear of personal death, (ii) Concern about suffering and lingering death, (iii) Subjective proximity to death, (iv) Death related fears, and (v) Disturbing death thought, whereas Alvarado, Templer, Bresler, and Thomas-Dobson (1993) reported death anxiety was a single factor. Hoogstraten, Koele, and van der Laan (1998), using Templer's scale with 179 Dutch freshmen in psychology, identified five factors in which the first factor appeared to be an underlying primary dimension on which all items except Item 10 loaded substantially.…”