The study of personal constructs of death and fear of death among Taiwanese adolescents.

Full Abstract

This study administered an open-ended questionnaire about death and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) to explore the relationships between personal constructs about death and fears of death among Taiwanese adolescents. The sample included 329 adolescents in junior and senior high school grades 7 to 12. A coding manual was used to conduct content analysis of death constructs in paragraphs about death written by respondents, and the MFODS was used to measure fear of death. The results revealed that concepts and fears about death differed significantly according to grade, gender, religion, death-related experiences, and death-related discussions in the family. Constructs regarding negative emotional states, as well as low levels of attachment, emerged as significant predictors of the seven MFODS subscales. Generalization of these results to other populations merits further investigation.

Author information

Author/s: Yang, Shu Ching (SC); Chen, Shih-Fen (SF);

Affiliation: Graduate Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-Sen University, 70 Lien-Hai Rd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C. 804. shyang(-atsign-)mail.nsysu.edu.tw

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Death studies (Death Stud), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Nov; vol 33 (issue 10) : pp 913-40

Dates: Created 2009/10/30; Completed 2009/11/06;

PMID: 19877367, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2009, IMS Date: )

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