Validation of a New Measure of the Concept of Good Death Among Taiwanese Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure dimensions of the concept of a good death held by Taiwanese children. The sample consisted of 1,698 Taiwanese children, approximately 12–14 years of age. Participants completed the self-administered Good Death Concept Scale (GDCS), which consists of 30 statements describing potentially important contributors to a good death that had been identified in the relevant literature. Findings indicated that the GDCS is reliable and valid, as evidenced by the acceptable reliability, the consistent item–total correlations, the successful confirmatory factor analysis modeling, and the significant associations between the scale measuring concepts of a good death and 2 standardized scales (the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale and the Death Attitude Profile–Revised). The results of this study suggest that GDCS measures 8 distinct domains, each reflecting a different aspect of good death: physical/biological, psychological, social, cognitive, altruistic, spiritual, affective, and rational.