First-Year College Students' Attitudes about End-of-Life Decision-Making

Abstract

This study analyzes attitudes about treatment of the terminally ill among a group of first-year undergraduate students--a cohort that was in high school when intense publicity and extensive political and judicial involvement in the Terri Schiavo case occurred. Data for the study were collected by structured personal interviews with 201 randomly selected, first-year students in the first half of fall semester, 2005. Students clearly make distinctions in the propriety of active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and physician-assisted death. Presented with a situation of a terminally ill patient in considerable pain, 65.1% of the students supported or strongly supported withdrawal of life-sustaining technology (passive euthanasia), 34.3% supported the physician providing the means of death to the patient (physician-assisted death), and 28.3% supported the physician actually administering a lethal injection (active euthanasia). A review of the literature of correlates of euthanasia attitudes in a variety of samples produced five potential types of influences: 1) general philosophical and religious beliefs; 2) fears about one's own death and dying process; 3) amount of information about and exposure to the issue of euthanasia; 4) characteristics of the community in which one lives; and 5) certain personal background characteristics. These categorical types produced 19 specific variables that were potentially related to euthanasia attitudes. The strongest predictor of attitudes varied among the three types of euthanasia, but political party affiliation had the most overall influence. Students self-identifying as Democrats were more likely than those self-identifying as Republicans to support euthanasia.

Attitudes toward Passive Euthanasia among Students from Selected Constituents of the University of Zagreb

“…Iz toga zaključujemo da studenti nisu a priori isključivi u pogledu neodobravanja eutanazije, već smatraju da postoje određene okolnosti u kojima je ona opravdana (na primjer s česticom č14, »Pasivna eutanazija je opravdana ako pacijent boluje od neizlječive bolesti.«, slaže se ili u potpunosti slaže više od trećine studenata). Konačno, imajući na umu strukturu uzorka ovog rada, zaključujemo da ovi nalazi uvelike potvrđuju nalaze ranijih istraživanja (Karaahmetoglu i Kutahyalioglu, 2017;Leppert i dr., 2013;Poli, 2018;Sikora, 2009;Sharp, 2017;Stolz i dr., 2015;Tomašević i Jurun, 2007;Weiss i Lupkin, 2010) u kojima se pokazalo da su eutanaziji skloniji ispitanici niže dobne skupine, oni koji žive u urbanim sredinama te oni višeg stupnja obrazovanja.…”

A Cross-National Comparison of Hong Kong and U.S. Student Beliefs and Preferences in End-of-Life Care: Implications for Social Work Education and Hospice Practice

“…Although those with traditional religious beliefs are less likely to be oriented toward hospice philosophy (Gallup International Institute, 1997;Weiss & Lupkin, 2009), the majority of the dominant European American population in the United States holds views consistent with hospice philosophy. Furthermore, hospice access and utilization are skewed toward this dominant European American population rather than diverse ethnic and racial cultural groups.…”

“…Traditional American values about independence may foster a fear of being a burden during end-of-life care (Guillemin, 1992;Weiss & Lupkin, 2009). Also, Americans may gain a sense of immortality through descendents, love of others, or having made their mark on the world.…”

“…Also, Americans may gain a sense of immortality through descendents, love of others, or having made their mark on the world. The traditional Christian religion of the dominant European American cultural group may influence end-of-life care preferences (Weiss & Lupkin, 2009), and may include having religious leaders involved with clients' care and helping them find a sense of spiritual peace, having given or received blessings at the end of life, and a desire for ritual prayers at the time of death (Gallup International Institute, 1997). …”

Factors Affecting California College Students’ Attitudes Toward Assisted Dying

“…Much of the literature assessing student attitudes toward physician-assisted death, euthanasia, and the right to die has focused on students in health-care fields, such as nursing and medicine (Margalith, Musgrave, & Goldschmidt, 2003; Ozcelik, Tekir, Samancioglu, Fadiloglu, & Ozkara, 2014) . Often vignettes or questions are designed to manipulate patient characteristics in order to determine at what point attitudes toward physician-assisted death becomes acceptable (Bevacqua & Robinson Kurpius, 2013; Margalith et al., 2003; Stephens, Neal, & Overman, 2014; Weiss & Lupkin, 2009).…”