Explored aspects of death anxiety in 77 physicians. Confirmed an inverse relationship between use of repression and overt reports of death anxiety. Found differences between internists, surgeons, and psychiatrists and significant relationships between age, experience, and death anxiety. Younger, less experienced physicians displayed greatest death…

Examined birth and death dates of males listed in "Who Was Who in America." Found that, compared to men aged 71 and younger, men aged 72 and older were more likely to die on the eve of their birthdays or on their birthdays themselves. Compared to younger subjects, older subjects' death dip began at earlier point in time. (Author/NB)

Investigated differences between 28 hospice and 28 hospital patients who died. Comparison found that hospice patients were younger, had more people living in the home, and had shorter disease history. Age, number of people living in the home, and primary cancer site significantly discriminated between hospice and hospital patients and predicted…

Used patient records of 184 adults to examine the relationship of cause of dying, length of hospital stay, and age to medical treatment effort orientation and work effort. Findings showed medical treatment orientation was overwhelmingly toward the cure end of the care/cure continuum, despite no-code designations or terminal conditions. (JAC)

Information on euthanasia attitudes was obtained from fixed-schedule interviews gathered from 331 respondents. It was found that a favorable attitude toward euthanasia coincided with (1) belief in an afterlife; (2) a less favorable attitude toward euthanasia if relatives make the decision; and (3) younger respondents. (Author)

Birthday-deathday relationship has been called an artifact due to continuous depletion of population with age. The increased death rate with age, however, cancels this effect at ages 75 to 84. There remains a 33 percentexcess of deaths from heart disease among married persons aged 75 and older in the three-day period centered at the birthday.…

Children (N=32) between 6 and 12 years of age were given Derry Death Concept Scale, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and subtests from Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Correlations indicated that level of death concept development was related to age and verbal-conceptual mental development. Socioeconomic status and death-related…

Examined the influence of sex and age on death anxiety in 165 male and 95 female homosexuals who completed the Death Anxiety Scale. Results showed gay males and females had almost identical DAS scores. No relationship was found between age and death anxiety. (JAC)

Examined factors affecting belief in afterlife. Data from 1978 subfile on National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey showed that, controlling on frequency of church attendance and religious intensity, Protestants had highest incidence of belief in life after death, followed by Catholics, and then by Jews. Race, religion, and church…

The Death Attitude Profile was developed and four orthogonal factors were identified: Fear of Death/Dying, Approach-Oriented Death Acceptance, Escape-Oriented Death Acceptance, and Neutral Death Acceptance. An elderly sample (N=50) showed less fear of death and more acceptance (all three kinds of acceptance) than did middle aged (N=50) and young…

Compared parents (N=40) whose adult children died in traffic accidents to parents (N=24) whose adult children died of cancer. Cancer parents tended to experience loss less painfully than did accident parents. Differences between groups were explained by older age of children at death and less intense expression of grief. Circumstances of death…

Examined records of 503 elderly widowed persons. Found excess mortality after widow(er)hood for males aged 75 and older. Results suggest that those in older age groups and males may be more vulnerable after bereavement, and that certain social contact and happier disposition may have modifying effects on stress of bereavement and risk factors…

Explored relationship between the salience of death and decade, sex, age, and education through a nationally representative, random sample of 1,428 respondents in 1957 and 1976 using a thematic apperceptive procedure. A significant historical increase in concerns about death was found, although the change was strongest among women and the young.…

Assessed the orientation of 14 male professors toward immortality as a psychological motive. Results showed a generally low conscious concern with immortality issues; however, respondents who have accepted some sort of immortality show a more internal locus of control and better adjustment. (JAC)

Investigated female older adults' (N=76) attitudes toward a similar- or dissimilar-aged dying patient versus a nondying patient. Confirmed less positive attitudes toward a terminal cancer patient. Age similarity did not appear to have strong effects on subjects' perceptions of patients. (Author/JAC)