The Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA): its development, validation, and results in three Arab countries

Abstract

The Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA) was constructed and validated in a sample of undergraduates (17-33 yrs) in 3 Arab countries, Egypt (n = 418), Kuwait (n = 509), and Syria (n = 709). In its final form, the ASDA consists of 20 statements. Each item is answered on a 5-point intensity scale anchored by 1: No, and 5: Very much. Alpha reliabilities ranged from .88 to .93, and item-remainder correlations ranged between .27 and .74; the 1-week test-retest reliability was .90 (Egyptians only), denoting high internal consistency and stability. The correlations between the ASDA and Templer's DAS ranged from .60 to .74 denoting high convergent validity of the ASDA against the DAS in the 3 Arab countries. Four factors were extracted in the Egyptian sample and labeled "Fear of dead people and tombs", "Fear of postmortem events", "Fear of lethal disease", and "death preoccupation". The first two factors were almost completely identical in the three countries. The item, "I fear the torture of the grave", had a very high mean score. There were significant correlations between the ASDA and death depression, death obsession, reasons for death fear, and general anxiety, depression, obsession-compulsion, neuroticism, and being a female. All female groups attained significantly higher mean ASDA scores than their male counterparts. Kuwaitis had higher mean ASDA total scores, in comparison with their Egyptian and Syrian counterparts, whereas female Syrians attained the lowest mean ASDA total score in proportion to their female peers.