Death anxiety in normal children and adolescents

Abstract

Instruments devised to measure death anxiety, depression, and manifest anxiety in adults were administered to 75 junior high-school students, 111 senior high-school students, and 38 adults in an effort ot determine the nature of any developmental differences among these groups. A number of significant differences were noted, with the senior high-school students showing greater anxiety, depression, and death anxiety than the other groups. These results are discussed in the context of tasks of adolescent development, and an item analysis of the death anziety questionnaire is presented. Developmental differences in the origin of death anxiety are related to previous studies of death anxiety in adults.