The Comparison of Death Anxiety, Obsession, and Depression Between Muslim Population with Positive and Negative Religious Coping

Abstract

Death anxiety, obsession, and depression constitute three dimensions of death distress which can be influenced by religious coping in religious individuals. The aim of this study was to compare death anxiety, depression, and obsession between Muslims with positive and negative religious coping. In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 339 participants were selected via stratified random sampling method. The participants were screened using the Brief Religious Coping Scale, in which 60 individuals were identified to have positive religious coping and 62 individuals were recognized as individuals with negative religious coping. They responded to Death Anxiety Scale, Death Obsession Scale, and Death Depression Scale. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and multiple analysis of variance. The results of principal component analysis showed that death anxiety, death obsession, and death depression were separate factors of death distress. The results also revealed that individuals with negative religious coping gained higher scores than those with positive religious coping in all the three variables of death anxiety, obsession, and depression. Consistent with the previous studies and Terror Management Theory, this finding lays emphasis on the role of positive religious coping in reducing death distress and the possible consequent psychopathology.

Death Anxiety, Religiosity and Culture: Implications for Therapeutic Process and Future Research

“…Studies have shown that many individuals regard religion as a source of coping with the difficult moments of their lives (Mohammadzadeh and Najafi 2020;Koenig 2012;Willis et al 2019). Death anxiety is often accompanied by the experience of fear, sadness, and anger, and individuals attempt to find a way to cope with them.…”

“…Although greater religious participation is not a guaranteed remedy of death anxiety, Alvarado argued that strong religious conviction and belief in an afterlife could reduce death anxiety (Alvarado et al 1995). In fact, religious faith, spiritual belief, and life satisfaction decrease death anxiety and act as a preventive factor against feelings of existential despair (Lewis 2014;Mohammadzadeh and Najafi 2020). A number of studies indicate the role of spiritual experiences and life satisfaction as a coping mechanism (Moore 2013;Saini et al 2016;Taghiabadi et al 2017).…”

Death distress constructs: A preliminary empirical examination of the Farsi form in nurses: A brief note

“…One of correlates of death distress is cultural religious spiritual issues (Jong et al, 2018). For example, some findings found among English sample (Maltby & Day, 2000a), Muslim Lebanese (Abdel‐Khalek, 1998a), Saudi Arabia sample (Almostadi, 2012) and Iranians (Dadfar, Bahrami, Sheybani Noghabi, & Askari, 2016; Dadfar & Lester, 2017a; Mohammadzadeh, 2015; Mohammadzadeh & Najafi, 2010, 2018).…”

Masa Emerging Adulthood pada Mahasiswa: Kecemasan akan Masa Depan, Kesejahteraan Subjektif, dan Religiusitas Islam

“…Hasil analisis regresi penelitian ini sesuai dengan penelitian dari Mohammadzadeh & Najafi (2018) yang menunjukkan bahwa religiusitas dapat menjadi prediktor bagi kesejahteraan subjektif dimana ketika tingkat religiusitas Islam tinggi, tingkat kesejahteraan subjektif pun tinggi. Kepercayaan dan praktik agama dipercaya dapat mengurangi ketidakberdayaan dan kecemasan pada permasalahan.…”