Death anxiety has been an unremitting agent of the human experience. The psychological dilemma posed by the awareness and forecasting of death can increase anxiety, thus affecting well-being through the compulsive desire or will to persist (Becker, 1973; Yalom, 1980). Such psychological armor can manifest in conscious and unconscious behaviors,…

The current study examined the unique and interactive effects of family and community violence across types of violence (weapon, physical, and death) and relationship proximity (self, family/friend, and strangers) in African American adolescents (mean age = 12.63, SD = 0.99, 54% female). Items from the community violence and family violence…

This study examined the self-reported likelihood of working with older adults in a future career among 237 college undergraduates at a midsized Midwestern university. Although aging anxiety was not significantly related to likelihood of working with older adults, those students who had a greater level of death anxiety were less likely than other…

Studied the variables related to death anxiety in the elderly (N=122). Results indicated that death anxiety response patterns are a function of the population examined, rather than existing as general characteristics of the elderly, which explains the inconsistency of previous literature on death anxiety in elderly persons. (LLL)

The objective of the study was to compare various predictors of death obsession (i.e., anxiety, optimism, pessimism), and self-ratings of religiosity, physical health, mental health, happiness, and satisfaction with life, among 2 samples of college students recruited from two different cultures: Kuwait (n = 271) and United Kingdom (n = 205). The…

A total of 399 individuals completed a lethal behaviors scale and a measure of death anxiety, which were found to have no significant correlation. Predictors of lethalness included doing dangerous things for the fun of it and having ever driven a motorcycle. The most lethal individuals were young, male, and less educated. (Author/ABL)

Investigated key variables associated with death anxiety and belief in afterlife among college students (N=181). Results supported the notion that belief in afterlife is primarily a function of religion and not directly a correlate of fear of death. Church attendance was found to be significantly related to both. (JAC)

Administered Templer Death Anxiety Scale and Mood Scale to 52 college students. Subjects were shown neutral videotape, videotape of death scenes, and neutral videotape. Before and after each videotape, participants completed Mood Scale. Found initial level of death anxiety to be significant predictor of changes in, and overall levels of,…

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)

Investigated impact of four metaphysical beliefs (existence of God, attributes of God, afterlife, consequences of suffering) on death anxiety. Householders (n=120), one-half of whom lived in high exposure to death sight areas, responded to pictures depicting death and nondeath scenes to measure death anxiety. Subjects from low exposure areas…

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between happiness and death distress (death anxiety, death depression, and death obsession) in 275 volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates. They responded to the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the Death Anxiety Scale, the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety, the Death Depression Scale-Revised, and the…

The California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Levanthal Anxiety Scale, the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and a questionnaire determining various demographic and situational variables relevant to death anxiety were administered to college students (N=180). Percentage of the variance of death anxiety accounted for by each predictor variable…

Hospice patient/family volunteers responded to personality questionnaires prior to training and to measures of death understanding and coping before and after training. Results showed that the volunteers were relatively low in anxiety, internally controlled, and empathetic before training. Following training, volunteers reported better…

A criterion composed of total scores from the Handal Fear of Death Scale and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale was predicated using scores from the Personal Experience Check List (a scale of past altered states experiences). Results are discussed as related to previous work with death anxiety. (Author)

Because the onset of a spinal cord injury may involve a brush with death and because serious injury and disability can act as a reminder of death, death anxiety was examined as a predictor of posttraumatic stress levels among individuals with disabilities. This cross-sectional study used multiple regression and multivariate multiple regression to…