Harrawood Laura K, White Lyle J, Benshoff John J
Idaho State University, Department of Counseling, Pocatello 83209-8120, USA.
Omega (Westport). 2008;58(2):129-46. doi: 10.2190/om.58.2.c.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of death anxiety among a national sample of United States funeral directors with varying levels of death exposure, age, and sex. Utilizing the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS), the results showed a significant, but weak negative relationship between levels of death anxiety and the participants' reported number of funerals attended per year. The correlation between death anxiety scores and the number of reported embalming cases performed yearly was, however, not significant. We found a significant negative correlation between death anxiety and age in both men and women funeral directors. The difference in the death anxiety scores between men (n=166) and women (n=38) funeral directors was not significant. There was a significant negative correlation with age in both men and women in several fears of death including fear of the dying process, fear for significant others, and fear of premature death. The significant negative correlations were stronger for women than men across all three subscales. Results, direction for further research, and implications of the findings for mental health workers are discussed.
本研究的目的是考察美国全国范围内不同死亡接触水平、年龄和性别的丧葬承办人样本中死亡焦虑水平之间的关系。使用多维死亡恐惧量表（MFODS），结果显示死亡焦虑水平与参与者报告的每年参加葬礼的次数之间存在显著但微弱的负相关。然而，死亡焦虑得分与每年报告的防腐案例数量之间的相关性并不显著。我们发现男性和女性丧葬承办人的死亡焦虑与年龄之间均存在显著负相关。男性（n = 166）和女性（n = 38）丧葬承办人在死亡焦虑得分上的差异并不显著。在包括对死亡过程的恐惧、对重要他人的恐惧以及对过早死亡的恐惧等几种死亡恐惧方面，男性和女性与年龄均存在显著负相关。在所有三个子量表中，女性的显著负相关性比男性更强。本文讨论了研究结果、进一步研究的方向以及这些发现对心理健康工作者的启示。
