Chinese Version of Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale -Chinese Version

Description

In most cultures, “death” has always been a taboo subject. The attention given to death has never ceased. Research results on attitudes towards death from a psychoanalytic perspective by Bromberg and Schilder (1936) indicate that with deeper explorations by subsequent researchers, studies on death anxiety gradually developed to the operational level. In 1967, Lester published research findings on fear of death, followed by Templer (1970, 1976), who began specific studies on death anxiety. He viewed death anxiety as a unidimensional structure, a universal psychological phenomenon faced by individuals when confronting death. It is a subjective and painful state, as well as a dynamic process that can change at any moment due to events, environments, individual health status, and the interaction between close relationships. Under the new medical model, people’s attention to psychological issues has increased. Death anxiety, as a negative psychological state directly related to death, can be extremely harmful to physical and mental health if excessive, and it has been classified as a nursing diagnosis. NANDA defines death anxiety as a state of discomfort, worry, or fear related to death or dying, characterized by (1) concern that one’s death will affect others who are crucial in their lives; (2) feeling powerless regarding end-of-life issues; (3) fear of losing functioning and cognitive ability before death; (4) anticipating suffering at the end of life; (5) deep sadness; (6) fear of the dying process; (7) concern that caregivers will be overwhelmed when approaching the end of life; (8) worry about meeting the creator or doubts about God’s existence; (9) losing control over any aspect of one’s death; (10) having unpleasant thoughts or negative imaginations about anything related to death or dying; (11) fear that death will be delayed; (12) fear that premature death will prevent important life goals from being achieved.

Authors and Contact Email

Tomer and Eliason (1996)

Purpose

To explain the composite model of death anxiety.

Test Year

1996

Administration Method and Scoring

The administration method is not specified. However, the scoring is based on a Likert scale.

Reliability and Validity

The model of death anxiety proposes that the decisive factors affecting death anxiety include three aspects: Past-related Regret, Future-related Regret, and Meaningfulness of Death. Past-related Regret refers to the individual’s perception of regrets about unmet wishes in their past life. Future-related Regret indicates the individual’s awareness of not having enough time to achieve certain future goals before death and feeling distressed about being unable to handle future matters. The Meaningfulness of Death refers to whether the individual holds a positive or negative view towards death. From this model, it is evident that death anxiety arises from negative emotions such as regret and disappointment over the past and future, or perceiving death as a loss of meaning and nonexistence.

Factors and Subscales

The influence of death reminders on the three decisive factors of death anxiety occurs in direct and indirect aspects: Death reminders can directly trigger feelings of regret related to the past and future, serving as a direct factor leading to the meaninglessness of death. Death reminders may also indirectly affect these three factors by modifying the individual’s beliefs about the world and self through psychological structure or activating “processing mechanisms” such as cultural identity, life review, self-understanding, and transcendence. Together, these models determine the influence of death reminders on death anxiety.

Keywords

Death Anxiety, Meaning Management Theory, Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale, Psychological Issues

Items in Chinese

1. 我非常害怕死亡。
2. 我很少想到死亡。
3. 当别人谈到死亡时，我并不会紧张。
4. 想到不得不进行一个手术会让我感到害怕。
5. 我一点儿也不害怕死亡。
6. 我不是特别害怕患有癌症。
7. 死亡的想法永远不会困扰我。
8. 因为时间过得太快使我经常陷入痛苦之中。
9. 我害怕痛苦地死去。
10. 当人们讨论死亡的话题（鬼、灵魂）会令我非常不安。
11. 我害怕会患上心脏病。
12. 我经常会思考人生为何如此短暂。
13. 当听人们谈论地震时，我会感到害怕。
14. 看到尸体会使我毛骨悚然。
15. 我觉得未来没有什么让我畏惧的。

Items in English

1. I am very afraid of death.
2. I seldom think about death.
3. I do not feel nervous when others talk about death.
4. The thought of having to undergo surgery scares me.
5. I am not afraid of death at all.
6. I am not particularly afraid of having cancer.
7. Thoughts of death never bother me.
8. The rapid passage of time often causes me pain.
9. I fear dying in pain.
10. Discussions about death (ghosts, souls) make me very uneasy.
11. I fear I might have a heart disease.
12. I often think about why life is so short.
13. I feel scared when people talk about earthquakes.
14. Seeing dead bodies gives me chills.
15. I believe there is nothing in the future that frightens me.

References

王天琪. 农村老年人依恋风格对抑郁的影响[D].哈尔滨工程大学,2020.DOI:10.27060/d.cnki.ghbcu.2020.000580.
杨红. 死亡焦虑量表的跨文化调适及其应用的研究[D].北京中医药大学,2011.