Death anxiety in Kuwaiti middle-aged personnel
Author: Abdel Khalek AM, Al Kandari Y.
Source:
OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 55(4), 297-310.
The present study aimed to examine the level of death anxiety, the sex-related
differences among a middle-aged Kuwaiti personnel sample, and to explore the
replicability of the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA) factors. A sample of
236 volunteer Kuwaiti personnel took part in the study. The mean ages of men and
women were 41.5 (SD = 7.5) and 40.9 (SD = 7.1), respectively. The alpha
reliability of the ASDA was found to be high (.93). Women had a significantly
higher mean total score on the ASDA as well as on 17 out of its 20 items.
Middle-aged personnel had a significantly lower mean ASDA total score than
younger college students (M age = 22). The factor analysis of the ASDA items
yielded three factors: fear of dead people and tombs; fear of postmortem events;
and fear of lethal disease. These factors were highly replicable with previous
factors extracted from a Kuwaiti college student sample. On the basis of the
present findings, there are three general conclusions as follows: death anxiety
is negatively associated with age; the sex-related differences on death anxiety
are salient in the Arab samples; and the ASDA has a highly replicable factor
structure.