Research shows that young children's understanding of death varies considerably by culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the concepts of death held by Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong. Eighty-three 4- to 5-year-olds were interviewed about their understanding of six death sub-concepts: inevitability, universality,…

Children could internalise blame for a death, suffer as much grief as adults, and express as much emotion as adults. Research on young children's perceptions of death has been conducted primarily in Western cultures. This paper is an exploration of Chinese 5-year-olds' understanding of death. Data analyses are mainly based on children's drawings…

This article reports the validation of the Chinese version of an expanded 31-item Euthanasia Attitude Scale. A 4-stage validation process included a pilot survey of 119 college students and a randomized household survey with 618 adults in Hong Kong. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a 4-factor structure of the scale, which can therefore be…

The present study examined the effects of attachment style and continuing bonds, defined as the extent to which a bereaved individual feels that the deceased remains a part of his/her life, on post bereavement adjustment among 71 conjugally bereaved individuals. It was shown that bereaved individuals with an anxious attachment style tended to show…

This study examines the factor structures of the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Orientation Toward Dying and Death Inventory (MODDI-F/chin), originally established in German language, in a sample of Hong Kong college students (n = 256). Both confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed to examine the factor…

Suicide notes have been regarded as one of the most informative data sources to understand the reasons why people commit suicide. However, there is a paucity of suicide note studies, leaving researchers with an assumption that this phenomenon remains static over time. This study examines this assumption by comparing the characteristics of…

Response to the death of a spouse was examined by focusing on acceptance, which was conceptualized as both a process and an outcome. Grounded theory was applied to analyze the experience of 15 bereaved Hong Kong Chinese older adults. The main theme that emerged was time. Acceptance of spousal death was found to be related to the search for meaning…

This article introduces the primary beliefs about ancestor worship, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and traditional Chinese medicine that have influenced Chinese people for thousands of years, particularly in relation to death and dying. These cultures and traditions remain important for Chinese people wherever they live. Over a long period,…

Chinese people are consistently reported to be less likely to commit to posthumous organ donation than the Westerners. This study aims at investigating how death anxiety may hinder them from expressing their willingness to donate organs. Among 290 Hong Kong Chinese adults (age greater than or equal 25 years), a higher level of death anxiety was…

Fear of dying and death may be universal, but individuals differ in their emotional reactions to dying and death. The present study included a sample of 133 Chinese university students who were Christians. The authors tested a mediation model which posited that intrinsic religiosity, but not extrinsic religiosity, lowered anxiety toward the dying…

The relationship between explanatory style and self-perceived posttraumatic growth was examined among 105 undergraduates in Hong Kong who had experienced bereavement in the past 6 years. Individuals who tended to attribute positive events to internal, global, and stable factors reported more posttraumatic growth than individuals who tended to…

This article reports the findings of a cross-sectional study that compared the attitudes of 618 respondents of a general household survey and a random sample of 1,197 physicians toward different types of euthanasia in Hong Kong. The general public was found to agree with active euthanasia and non-voluntary euthanasia and was neutral about passive…

Suicide as a cause of death among adolescents and migration as a component of population have been growing in importance. Very little research has been conducted on the connections between migration and suicidality among adolescents in Hong Kong, and so is the aim of this article. It uses census and registration data to study suicide mortality,…

This study explores the bereavement process of Chinese persons in Hong Kong, with the focus on how they make meaning of the death as well as how they maintain a bond with the deceased. A review of video- and audiotapes of 52 bereaved persons in bereavement counseling pointed to how these concepts are reflected in key themes that appeared…

Contrary to the belief that the Chinese do not share emotionally intense experiences, findings from a cross-sectional study of 292 respondents who lost either a spouse or a parent in the previous 2 years in Hong Kong indicated that only 10% did not share their bereavement experiences with another person. The physical health and emotional state of…