Development and validation of Believers’ Death Anxiety Scale: integrating religious dimensions into death anxiety assessment

Abstract

Background and objectives Death anxiety has traditionally been measured without considering religious beliefs related to death, such as afterlife, the grave, and punishment. The present study was aimed at developing and validating a new scale to address this limitation. Methods The study was carried out in four phases and recruited a total of 2250 conveniently selected participants aged 18–59. Believers’ Death Anxiety Scale (BDAS) was developed and validated according to the reputed standards for scale development and validation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The convergent validity was established by correlating BDAS with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Discriminant validity was established by correlating BDAS with the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed through Cronbach’s alpha, item-total, and item-scale correlations. Results The BDAS consists of fifteen items distributed across five subscales: worry, terror, despair, avoidance, and thoughts. The BDAS exhibited a strong factor structure, with five distinct factors consistently exceeding acceptable factor loadings. Convergent validity was confirmed through positive correlations with depression, anxiety, and stress, while discriminant validity was demonstrated through a significant inverse correlation with life satisfaction. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency and reliability across all phases of testing. Conclusion The BDAS emerges as a valuable and innovative instrument for researchers and practitioners seeking to comprehensively assess death anxiety, considering the often-overlooked role of religious dimensions.