The development and validation of the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviours Scale

Objectives

Research spanning the fields of clinical, social and health psychology suggests that death anxiety is an important construct. However, no comprehensive, psychometrically adequate measure of the construct exists. The current studies outline the development of a new measure of death anxiety, the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviours Scale (DABBS), which is the first measure to specifically assess unhelpful beliefs and behaviours that may underlie fears of death.

Methods

In Study 1, items were piloted in a large community sample (N = 505). In Studies 2A and 2B, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed using a treatment-seeking (N = 200) and non-treatment-seeking sample (N = 200). These analyses resulted in the final 18-item scale.

Results

The DABBS demonstrated good construct validity, criterion validity, internal consistency and test–retest reliability. In Study 3, the DABBS effectively distinguished participants with clinically significant death anxiety and distress from those without, demonstrating excellent discriminant validity.

Conclusions

The present data indicate that the DABBS is a valid and reliable measure of affect, beliefs and behaviours relating to death anxiety, in a community sample of adults and among those seeking mental health treatment. Given the increasing recognition of the importance of death anxiety, the DABBS offers a useful research and clinical tool.