Psychometric Properties of the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) Among Terminally Ill Cancer Patients
Abstract
Research conducted with the terminally ill population in relation to death anxiety is rare and mostly outdated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the widely used Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) on a sample of terminal cancer patients.Additionally, validation studies of the DAS have exclusively used traditional statistical methods for analysis. The current study utilized an item response theory technique (IRT), namely the Rasch Rating Scale model for data analysis. The methodology employed may be useful for other researchers conducting validation studies from an IRT perspective.
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Templer's Death Anxiety Scale is extensively used as a reliable and valid measure of death anxiety.
“Templer's Death Anxiety Scale is extensively used as a reliable and valid measure of death anxiety”
From Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: Reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct (2014) · cites this paper as Royal & Elahi, 2011
Applying the Templer Death Anxiety Scale to Master Hongyi's documented final words and actions suggests an exceptionally low level of death anxiety.
“Applying the DAS to Master Hongyi's documented final words and actions suggests an exceptionally low level of death anxiety, as detailed in Table 1 below.”
From Lessons from Master Hongyi’s Experiences with Impermanence for Death Education (2024) · cites this paper as Royal and Elahi 2011
Cites
Construction of a Death Anxiety Scale-Extended
Templer, D. I., Awadalla, A., Al-Fayez, G., Frazee, J., Bassman, L., Connelly, H. J., Arikawa, H., & Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2006) · OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying · doi:10.2190/bqfp-9uln-nuly-4jdr · Cited by 95 · see citing works
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Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: Reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct
Iverach, L., Menzies, R. G., & Menzies, R. E. (2014) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.09.002 · Cited by 459 · see citing works
“In contrast, there is considerable evidence that end-of-life conditions may be associated with death anxiety, depression, and psychological distress (Barrera & Spiegel, 2014; Lagerdahl, Moynihan, & Stollery, 2014; Lo et al., 2014; Royal & Elahi, 2011; Spiegel, 1995).”
BackgroundMethodFear of cancer recurrence and death anxiety
Sharpe, L., Curran, L., Butow, P., & Thewes, B. (2018) · Psycho-Oncology · doi:10.1002/pon.4783 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Determinants of death anxiety in patients with advanced cancer
Neel, C., Lo, C., Rydall, A., Hales, S., & Rodin, G. (2015) · BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care · doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2012-000420 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Krause, S., Rydall, A., Hales, S., Rodin, G., & Lo, C. (2015) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.04.012 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Lessons from Master Hongyi’s Experiences with Impermanence for Death Education
Shi (Hsu-Feng Lee), F. (2024) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel15050528 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“One reliable and widely used tool for assessing an individual’s level of death anxiety is the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) (Templer 1970; Royal and Elahi 2011).”
Method
- Authors
- Royal, K. D., & Elahi, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Wholesome Therapy
- ORCID
- Royal, Kenneth D.
- Venue
- Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2011-06-30
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 359-371
- ISSN
- 0734-7332 (ISSN-L)
- 1540-7586
- OpenAlex
- W1496417652
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychosocial Oncology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- Death Anxiety Scale, fear of death, terminal cancer patients, psychometric validation, Rasch rating scale model, item response theory, scale validation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Anxiety, Attitude to Death, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Psychological Tests, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, Terminally Ill, Young Adult
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