Self-Efficacy as an Agentic Protective Factor against Death Anxiety in PTSD and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity

PTSD has profound personal, social and economic impact. Understanding factors that influence strong recovery is a priority for informing the use of limited treatment resources. This study follows up a preliminary finding from Hoelterhoff and Cheung Chung, Psychiatr Q, 88, 635-651, [30] which found that death anxiety is related to PTSD and suggested that self-efficacy may mediate this relationship. Specifically, this study examined self-efficacy as a protective factor in the context of people who have experienced a life-threatening event. 109 undergraduate university students completed self-report questionnaires on, self-efficacy, death anxiety, trauma and well-being as well as a number of demographic factors. Self-efficacy was found that to be significantly and inversely related to death anxiety and psychiatric co-morbidity, but not PTSD. Results were discussed in light of literature regarding death anxiety. It seems that self-efficacy is related to death anxiety and well-being; however, it interacts with these processes independently and not as a mediating factor. More research is needed to understand coping mechanisms that help develop resilience against the negative effects of death anxiety against PTSD and minimize its detrimental impact on mental health.