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Cited by 28Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyDeath Anxiety and Social ExclusionAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Death Anxiety, Religious Doubt, and Depressive Symptoms across Race in Older Adults

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Willis, Kelcie D., Nelson, Tamara, Moreno, Oswaldo·2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph16193645PMC PMC6801496
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect relationships among death anxiety, religious doubt, and depressive symptoms in older adults. This study also investigates race as a moderator for these relationships. This study used data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey. Participants identified as Christian, identified as Black or White, lived in a non-institutionalized household within the U.S., were retired, and spoke English. Using PROCESS, results revealed that religious doubt partially mediated the relationship between death anxiety and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, moderated mediation models revealed that race moderated the relationship between religious doubt and depressive symptoms. Specifically, there was significant, positive relationship between religious doubt and depressive symptoms for participants who identified as Black but not White. Results highlight how religious doubt can influence depressive outcomes among the geriatric communities of color. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

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  • Depression is one of the major factors influencing death anxiety in old age.

    “Depression is one of the major factors influencing death anxiety in old age (Willis et al., 2019).”

    From The Association Between Depression and Death Anxiety Among Older Adults: Moderating Effect of Ego-Integrity. (2025) · cites this paper as Willis et al., 2019

    The Results (section 4.2) find an association between death anxiety and depressive symptoms in older adults, supporting a link between the two. But the analysis treats death anxiety as the predictor of depressive symptoms, not depression as a factor influencing death anxiety. The Discussion’s limitations section says the cross-sectional study cannot establish directionality or causality. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. [1]Mather M. Jacobsen L.A. Pollard K.M. Population bulletin: Aging in the United States Popul. Ref. Bur. 2015 70 1 5
  2. [6]Thorson J.A. Powell F.C. Feelings about death in younger and older adults Series in Death, Dying, and Bereavement. Death Attitudes and the Older Adult: Theories, Concepts, and Applications Tomer A. Brunner-Routledge New York, NY, USA 2000 123 136
  3. [18]Cataldo J.K. An Investigation of the Relationship of Hardiness and Death Attitudes to Depression in Older Persons in Skilled Nursing Facilities Ph.D. Thesis New York University, School of Education, Health, Nursing, and Arts Professions New York, NY, USA 1989
  4. [22]Hunsberger B. McKenzie B. Pratt M. Pancer S.M. Religious doubt: A social psychological analysis Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion Lynn M.L. Moberg D.O. JAI Press Greenwich, CT, USA 1993 Volume 5 27 51
  5. [40]Neimeyer R.A. Feelings about Death Handbook: Research, Instrumentation, and Application Taylor & Francis New York, NY, USA 1994
  6. [44]Hair J.F. Jr. Black W.C. Babin B.J. Anderson R.E. Tatham R.L. SEM: An introduction Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective 7th ed. Pearson Education Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA 2010

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Authors
Willis, K. D., Nelson, T., & Moreno, O.
Affiliations
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
  • Brown University (US)
Corresponding author
Willis, Kelcie D.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2019-09-28
Volume
16
Issue
19
Pages
3645
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph16193645
PMC
PMC6801496
OpenAlex
W2975532179
Cited by
28
References
45
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3
FWCI
3.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
fear of death, religious doubt, depressive symptoms, older adults, race as moderator, Black older adults, communities of color, religion and aging, moderated mediation
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Anxiety, Depression, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Religion, Racial Groups

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