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Death anxiety, death depression, and death obsession
1Psychology Program, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona 08240-0195, USA.
Psychological Reports
|January 16, 2004
Summary
This study found that different scales measuring death anxiety, depression, and obsession in students showed only moderate associations. This suggests these scales capture distinct aspects of death-related psychological constructs.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Thanatology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Death anxiety, depression, and obsession are significant psychological constructs.
- Existing scales aim to measure these distinct, yet related, concepts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the associations between scores on multiple death-related psychological scales.
- To determine if these scales measure overlapping or distinct psychological constructs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Templer's death anxiety scale, the Collett-Lester death anxiety scale, Templer et al.'s death depression scale, and Abdel-Khalek's death obsession scale.
- Administered scales to a sample of 67 students.
- Analyzed the intercorrelations between scale scores.
Main Results:
- Scores from the death anxiety, death depression, and death obsession scales demonstrated only moderate associations.
- This indicates limited overlap in the constructs measured by these instruments.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that while related, death anxiety, death depression, and death obsession are not entirely interchangeable constructs.
- Further research is needed to fully delineate the psychometric properties and clinical utility of these scales.