Abstract
A transition model of fear of death in older adults is proposed, in which increased fear of death is predicted for elders in their late seventies or early eighties, evoked by the conflict or tension between the urge to survive and the awareness of limited survival time. This fear prompts coping efforts, with cognitive and emotional reorganization leading to decreased fear and increased acceptance of death. Study participants were 109 elders (ninety-three women and sixteen men; sixty-eight Whites and forty-one African-Americans) ranging in age from seventy to ninety-seven years (M=80.7 years; SD=6.9 years). In addition to earlier analysis showing increased fear of death in the transition period, qualitative analysis of open-ended interview protocols identified use of denial and suppression by younger participants, various coping strategies by those in their late seventies and early eighties, and increased acceptance of death by older participants. Evidence provides modest support of the model.
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