The Existential Concerns Questionnaire (ECQ)–Development and Initial Validation of a New Existential Anxiety Scale in a Nonclinical and Clinical Sample

Bruggen, Vincent van; Klooster, Peter M. ten; Westerhof, Gerben Johan; Vos, Joël; Kleine, Elian de; Bohlmeijer, Ernst Thomas; Glas, G.

doi:10.1002/jclp.22474

Cited by 53 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Many patients diagnosed with cancer identify as neither religious nor spiritual but clearly have existential if not religious and/or spiritual issues. For these patients, the revised guidelines include existential items representing themes found in the Existential Distress Scale (feelings of worthlessness and loneliness 33 ) and Existential Concerns Questionnaire (concerns about dying/death and/or afterlife 34 ). Clearly these additional 3 items are concerns that could be experienced by anyone regardless of religious and/or spiritual identity.…”

Section: Newly Integrated Revisions To the Chaplaincy Section Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Spiritual Care in the NCCN Distress Management Guidelines

Handzo

Bowden

King

2019

Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

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Spiritual care and chaplaincy have been part of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Distress Management since the first meeting of the panel in 1997, possibly the first time this degree of spiritual care and chaplaincy care integration occurred in cancer care. Since that time, the chaplaincy care section of the guidelines, especially chaplain assessment categories derived from a spiritual care assessment, have provided a major resource for healthcare chaplaincy and have served as a model for integrating chaplaincy into the overall team practice of healthcare. However, this section of the NCCN Guidelines has not been substantially updated since it was originally written. During those 20 years, the practice of healthcare chaplaincy and the research that supports it have grown substantially. In the last year, at the request of the panel, we have updated the chaplaincy care section to fully integrate recently published evidence in spiritual care in healthcare, adding more value to this important set of guidelines. Those updates appear in the 2019 version of the NCCN Guidelines. This article discusses the history of chaplaincy involvement in the NCCN Guidelines for Distress Management and the precedent it set for the integration of chaplaincy in other efforts that followed. Integration of this section of the Guidelines into the spiritual care practice at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is presented as an example of how these guidelines can be put into practice to improve patient care. Finally, a summary of the recent research by Drs. Kenneth Pargament and Julie Exline is presented as the foundation for the revised chaplain assessment categories and interventions.

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Section: Newly Integrated Revisions To the Chaplaincy Section Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Spiritual Care in the NCCN Distress Management Guidelines

Handzo

Bowden

King

2019

Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

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“…Second, since no unified tool had been detected at the time of performing the study, different tools had been used for measuring each aspect of existential well-being. However, due to the recently developed Existential Concern Questionnaire (ECQ), 25 perhaps further research, using the ECQ, may reveal more novel findings.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example: the Existential Concerns Questionnaire (ECQ) 25 was proven to be valid and reliable for the general population and for people suffering from psychiatric disorders. In our present study, only part of the ECQ factors were examined (meaning, death anxiety), while others were not examined, since literature review reported other topics to be main sources for existential concern among people suffering from terminal illness (e.g., satisfaction with life).…”

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, there are several agreeable variables for evaluating existential well-being; Among terminally ill can-cer patients the consensual existential needs include overcoming fears of death and dying, finding hope, finding meaning in life and satisfaction with life. 25,33,34 Existential distress is considered to be the most common and challenging to treat 26 and when suffering becomes agonizing, one might feel life is no longer worth living 27 and may wish to hasten death. 28 Existential suffering has different sources and themes, such as death anxiety, loss of control, loss of meaning and purpose in life, loss of freedom of choice and dignity.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Some of the common subjects of concern among such people are the fear of leaving loved ones and the fear of what occurs after death. 25 On the other hand, the fear of dying mainly focuses on pain, suffering and hopelessness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Effects of Perception of Prognosis on Existential Well-Being and Ego-Integrity Among Advanced Cancer Patients

Alon¹,

Sela²,

Carmel³

2017

Palliat Med Hosp Care Open J

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Memento mori: Understanding existential anxiety through the existential pathway model

Reed

Williamson

Wickham

2020

J. Theo. Soc. Psychol.

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Existentially derived frameworks have become more popular among researchers investigating a number of clinical areas, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. Nevertheless, the concept of existential anxiety has often been perceived as overly abstract and conceptually amorphous, which severely limits the ability of empirical research to objectively decipher the corresponding intrapsychic processes. Contemporary existential thought, particularly terror management theory, considers awareness of our own mortality as a driving factor behind many of our motivations as human beings (e.g., meaning‐making and connecting with others). By clearly delineating the pathways from death awareness to different manifestations of existential anxiety, clinicians and researchers would have a clearer framework through which to study existential anxiety. The present work introduces the concept of existential pathways as a way of recognizing, discerning, and addressing the causes of existential cognitions, affect, and behaviors within both clinical and research settings. Contemporary existential thought and empirically validated findings within terror management theory are used to develop a conceptual model of how death awareness potentially leads to thoughts, emotions, motivations, and behaviors associated with eight existential constructs: death anxiety, meaning, isolation, freedom, vulnerability, facticity, identity, and chaos. Clinical and research implications are discussed within the context of the existential pathway model, providing guidance on how the model may be used to harness behavioral change and inform research methodology.

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The Existential Concerns Questionnaire (ECQ)–Development and Initial Validation of a New Existential Anxiety Scale in a Nonclinical and Clinical Sample

Abstract: Initial results regarding the psychometric properties of the ECQ are promising.

Cited by 53 publications

References 31 publications

The Evolution of Spiritual Care in the NCCN Distress Management Guidelines

The Evolution of Spiritual Care in the NCCN Distress Management Guidelines

Effects of Perception of Prognosis on Existential Well-Being and Ego-Integrity Among Advanced Cancer Patients

Memento mori: Understanding existential anxiety through the existential pathway model

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