Templer's Death Anxiety Scale Research Articles

Convergent Validity of the Templer, Collett-Lester, and Arabic Death Anxiety Scales: Rejoinder

The Templer Death Anxiety Scale, the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety by Abdel-Khalek, and the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale were administered to a convenient sample of 81 male and female Kuwaiti undergraduates enrolled in social science courses (M age=22.0 yr., SD=2.3). Pearson correlations between the total scores were significant and positive. Only one high-loaded factor was extracted and labeled General Death Anxiety, indicating good convergent and factorial validity of these scales.

Death anxiety and death obsession in Spanish students.

This study examined the dimensional structure of Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and Abdel-Khalek's Death Obsession Scale. The responses of 289 Spanish students to the Spanish forms of both scales were evaluated by means of a principal components analysis with varimax rotation. Three significant factors were identified: Death Obsession, Cognitive-Affective, and Death Anxiety. The distribution of the factor loadings for the items of both scales on Factors 1 and 3 supported the discriminant validity of the constructs specific to each of the scales, while Factor 2 showed a common component in both scales characterized by cognitive and affective aspects in relation to the idea of death.

THE USE OF DEATH METAPHORS TO UNDERSTAND PERSONAL MEANING OF DEATH AMONG HONG KONG CHINESE UNDERGRADUATES

Many Chinese words are pictographic in nature and Chinese people often tend to use metaphorical expressions to communicate emotional feelings. The assessment of death images and metaphors provides a meaningful way of understanding personal perceptions of death among the Chinese. The purpose of this study was to establish an instrument to assess the death metaphors of Hong Kong Chinese for assessment and empirical research. Thirty death metaphor statements in Chinese were created from items of the Revised Death Fantasy Scale (RDFS; J. McLennan & C. A. Stewart, 1997) and a previous pilot study in Hong Kong (S. M. Y. Ho, 2001). The item pool was administered to 100 undergraduates together with the Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. Seven out of the 10 highest scored death metaphor statements were from the items that had been created for this study. Descriptive statistics of individual items suggested an interpersonal dimension of death perception that is not emphasized in Western literature. Factor analysis generated a 18-item Death Metaphors Scale (DMS) with 2 9-item subscales: the Positive Metaphors (α = .85) and the Negative Metaphors (α = .81). The scores of DMS subscales are significantly correlated with the Templer's Death Anxiety Scale but not with corresponding scores of the RDFS. The DMS was considered a potentially useful instrument to study death metaphors among Chinese.

Concurrent and divergent validity of the Spanish form of Templer's Death Anxiety Scale.

The aim of this study was to examine the concurrent and divergent validity of the Spanish form of Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. A sample of 328 Spanish students responded anonymously to a questionnaire which, in addition to the Death Anxiety Scale, included the Spanish forms of two death anxiety scales and two scales of general anxiety. Although the correlations with measures of death anxiety were notably higher than those with measures of general anxiety, there were positive and significant correlations between scores on the Death Anxiety Scale and on all the other scales, denoting the concurrent and divergent validity of the Spanish form of the Death Anxiety Scale.

Effect of death education on self‐determination in medical treatment in university students

Background: Young people have little opportunity to acquire knowledge about or to determine in advance their medical preferences regarding their own end‐of‐life situation, including diagnosis disclosure and/or organ donation. Therefore a 90 min university‐level death education lecture was presented, which was designed to allow students to examine their attitudes regarding medical autonomy and to prepare themselves to make realistic decisions.Methods: At the beginning of the semester a survey was conducted using the questionnaire method. Three months later the death education lecture was provided to students in the death education group and the usual lecture to students in the control group, after which the survey using the same questionnaire was readministered. The questionnaire consisted of Templer's death anxiety scale (DAS), five items regarding medical autonomy, background data, and voluntary comment.Results: Regarding the DAS and the items on medical autonomy, no significant differences were detected between the pre‐test and post‐test results, nor between the death education group (n = 62) and the control group (n = 49). However, in the death education group there was a significant increase in the number writing about the deaths of significant others and in the number providing voluntary comments.Conclusion: The death education lecture had the effect of deepening the students’ thoughts regarding their own death and/or their attitudes to medical autonomy.

Derivation of a proxy measure of death anxiety from the suicide opinion questionnaire.

A 10-item scale was derived from scores on Domino's Suicide Opinion Questionnaire which correlated with scores from Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and may prove useful as a proxy measure of death anxiety.

DERIVATION OF A PROXY MEASURE OF DEATH ANXIETY FROM THE SUICIDE OPINION QUESTIONNAIRE

A 10-item scale was derived from scores on Domino's Suicide Opinion Questionnaire which correlated with scores from Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and may prove useful as a proxy measure of death anxiety.

Afterlife Beliefs and Death Anxiety: An Exploration of the Relationship between Afterlife Expectations and Fear of Death in an Undergraduate Population

Psychologists and theologians have proposed that belief in afterlife (BA) buffers death anxiety (DA) by providing hope. This view is limited because it assumes the expected afterlife is rewarding. This study examines the relationship between different types of afterlife expectations and DA. Undergraduates ( N=111) completed the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (1970), the Osarchuk and Tatz Belief in Afterlife Scale (1973), and an Afterlife Expectation Scale. Five expectation categories were extracted through factor analysis: a reward-based afterlife, a judgment/punishment-based afterlife, an afterlife of continued existence on earth, a surreal afterlife, and extinction. No relationships were found between DA and either strength of BA or type of expectation. However, BA was related to reward expectation ( r=.72, p < .01), and judgment/punishment expectation ( r=.28, p < .01), contradicting the assumption that BA is always comforting.

Convergent validity of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death and Templer Death Anxiety Scales in Egyptian male college students.

The Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale were administered to 57 male Egyptian undergraduates. Pearson correlations between the total score on the Templer's scale and the four subscales of Collett-Lester's Fear of Self death, Self dying, Other's death, and Other's dying were .54, .55, .52, and .56, respectively, while the correlation between the total scores on the Collett-Lester and Templer scales was .73, denoting the convergent validity of the Collett-Lester scale against the Templer scale as criterion.

CONVERGENT VALIDITY OF THE COLLETT-LESTER FEAR OF DEATH AND TEMPLER DEATH ANXIETY SCALES IN EGYPTIAN MALE COLLEGE STUDENTS

The Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale were administered to 57 male Egyptian undergraduates. Pearson correlations between the total score on the Templer's scale and the four subscales of Collett-Lester's Fear of Self death, Self dying, Other's death, and Other's dying were .54, .55, .52, and .56, respectively, while the correlation between the total scores on the Collett-Lester and Templer scales was .73, denoting the convergent validity of the Collett-Lester scale against the Templer scale as criterion.

CORRELATES OF DEATH ANXIETY IN PAKISTAN

To ascertain the effect of gender, age, and religiosity on death anxiety, 132 participants were interviewed using Templer Death Anxiety Scale and Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (CLS). Women, older participants, and less religious participants were found to be more scared of their impending death. Gender effect was more pronounced, however, on the CLS. Women and less religious people reported to experience greater anxiety than their respective counterparts about different dimensions of death, for example, the shortness of life, total isolation of death, fear of not being, and disintegration of body after dying. The findings of the current work indicate that the general predictors of death anxiety, gender, age, and religiosity reported in Western, predominantly Christian samples also hold in an Eastern, Muslim sample.

A Comparison of Death Anxiety and Denial in Death-Risk and Death-Exposure Occupations

This study investigates the relationship between death anxiety and denial scale scores of persons employed in death-risk (DRG), death-exposure (DEG), or low-risk (CG) occupations. Participants were active duty military (DRG), health care providers (DEG), and college students (CG). Death anxiety instruments selected were Hoelter's Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS). Spielberger's Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale was the denial measure. The two death anxiety scales were positively correlated ( p = .001). There was no significant difference between groups on the MFODS nor the DAS. There was an inverse correlation between death anxiety and denial measures; the correlation was significant for the health care providers (DEG). Gender effect does not explain these differences. While age and occupational measures are confounded in this research design, additional analyses yielded similar findings ( r = –.337, p = .01). The results are interpreted according to perceptual control theory.

The Structure and Correlates of Kanashibari

The present research is an examination of the parameters and correlates of kanashibari, operationally defined as being unable to move upon awakening or before falling asleep. Nonclinical Japanese individuals (N = 720), 34% of whom reported an experience of kanashibari at least once, were administered D. I. Templer's (1970) Death Anxiety Scale, R. Brown's (1990) Locus of Control Scale, and a questionnaire devised by the authors to collect information about kanashibari. The results showed that the kanashibari experience was positively correlated with death anxiety, with being a woman, and with external—other locus of control; this last measure assessed the extent to which these individuals felt that their lives were determined by fate, good luck, or chance.

Templer's Death Anxiety Scale revisited: the Dutch version.

The aim of the present study was twofold, to present and analyse a Dutch version of Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and to explore further the scale's factor structure. Subjects were 179 Dutch freshmen in psychology who filled out the scale during a group test-session. Mean scale scores, standard deviations, and internal consistency were comparable to data reported in earlier studies. A principal components analysis identified five factors with eigenvalues larger than one. The first factor appeared to be an underlying primary dimension on which all items except Item 10 loaded substantially. It is suggested to change the response format form a dichotomous to a 5-point scale and to accept the Dutch version of the Death Anxiety Scale as a reliable measure of death anxiety.

SINGLE- VERSUS MULTI-ITEM SCALES IN MEASURING DEATH ANXIETY

The author investigated the reliability and concurrent validity of a Likert - type single-item test asking for a self-rating of death anxiety in two Arabic countries: Egypt and Kuwait. A total of 1,439 participants were divided into 9 male and female subsamples and were tested by a single item of death anxiety, along with three psychometric multi-item instruments (i.e., Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, Thorson and Powell's Revised Death Anxiety Scale, and the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety). The single-and multi-item scales had high reliabilities. All of the thirteen correlations between the single-item and the multi-item scales of death anxiety among men and women were statistically significant (p. 001) and positive. They ranged from .30 to .66, with a median of .51. It was concluded that single-item assessment can be reliable across time (test - retest = .82) and that it correlates moderately with multi-item instruments.

Two Scales of Death Anxiety: Their Reliability and Correlation among Kuwaiti Samples

Arabic versions of the Templer Death Anxiety Scale and the Thorson and Powell Revised Death Anxiety Scale were administered to 117 male and 157 female Kuwaiti undergraduates. Cronbach coefficients alpha for the two scales were, respectively, .79 and .77. Pearson correlations for scores on the two scales were .54, .67, and .64 for men, women and the combined group, respectively, so reliability and concurrent validity of the scales were adequate for the Kuwaiti sample.

Correlates of Death Anxiety in Nurses who Provide Aids Care

Within Martha E. Rogers' framework of the science of unitary human beings [1–3], a descriptive, correlational study was done to examine the relationships among spirituality, perceived social support, and death anxiety in nurses who provide AIDS care. Death anxiety was also examined as a predictor of nurses' willingness to care for AIDS patients. A convenience sample of 220 female RNs who provided AIDS care completed the Templer Death Anxiety Scale, the Spiritual Orientation Inventory, the Personal Resource Questionnaire-85, and the Willingness to Care for AIDS Patients Instrument. Multiple regression analyses indicated that death anxiety was significantly correlated with spirituality and nurses' willingness to care for patients with AIDS, yet no significant relationship was found between death anxiety and perceived social support. Analyses further revealed that despite high levels of death anxiety, the majority of nurses had a positive perception of death. Several personal, professional, and employment characteristics were associated with death anxiety in nurses who provide AIDS care. Methodological implications are discussed.

Nurses' willingness to care for AIDS patients and spirituality, social support, and death anxiety.

Use Rogers' (1992) framework of the science of unitary human beings to examine relationships among spirituality, perceived social support, death anxiety, and nurses' willingness to care for AIDS patients. Descriptive, correlational. Population, female RNs in the New York City Metropolitan area who care for patients with AIDS. Convenience sample of 220 RNs who worked in eight hospitals either on AIDS-dedicated units (n = 88), or medical-surgical scatterbed units (n = 132) with a daily AIDS patient census of between 5% to 50%. Data were collected in 1992. Spiritual Orientation Inventory, the Personal Resource Questionnaire-85, the Templer Death Anxiety Scale, and the Willingness to Care for AIDS Patients Instrument. Pearson product-moment correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses to test hypotheses. Willingness to care for AIDS patients was positively correlated with spirituality and perceived social support, and negatively correlated with death anxiety. Death anxiety moderated the relationship between spirituality and willingness to care. In total, 17% of the variance in nurses' willingness to care for AIDS patients was explained. Additional regression analyses indicated that group membership as either an AIDS-dedicated nurse or medical-surgical nurse did not moderate or change hypothesized relationships. Because group membership explained 22% of the variance in willingness to care, the data indicate that group culture or professional identity should be further examined as predictors of nurses' willingness to care for AIDS patients. Social support at work from administrators and colleagues, as well as the support from patients themselves is important to nurses and should be fostered.

The Relationship of Death Anxiety with Age and Psychosocial Maturity

For this study, 194 respondents completed a biographical data sheet, the Templer (1970) Death Anxiety Scale and the Constantinople (1973) Inventory of Psychosocial Development to help assess the relationship among death anxiety, age, and psychosocial maturity. Findings showed that psychosocial maturity was a better predictor of death anxiety than age was. However, both variables were significantly negatively correlated with death anxiety, revealing that as psychosocial maturity and age increase, death anxiety decreases.

Holotropic breathwork: An experiential approach to psychotherapy.

The study investigated the relationship between the use ofHolotropic Breathwork and therapeutic changes in levels of distress associated with selfidentified problems, death anxiety, selfesteem, and sense of affiliation with others. Two groups of 24 subjects were compared using a repeated measures design. One group participated in a combination of experientially oriented psychotherapy plus six monthly sessions ofHolotropic Breathwork (Breathwork Group); the second group participated only in experientially oriented psychotherapy (Therapy Group). Dependent measures were Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, the Abasement and Affiliation subscales of the Personality Research Form-E, and a questionnaire regarding self-identified problems. The Breathwork Group showed significant reductions in death anxiety and increases in self-esteem compared to the Therapy Group. No significant differences were observed between groups on affiliation or self-identified problems. Results suggest that experiential approaches to psychotherapy may be useful in