Top

Published in:

01-02-2021 | COVID-19 | Original Paper

Association of Death Anxiety with Spiritual Well-Being and Religious Coping in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors: Mohammad Rababa, Audai A. Hayajneh, Wegdan Bani-Iss

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

This descriptive study aimed to examine the association of death anxiety with religious coping and spiritual well-being among 248 community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief Arab religious coping scale, the Arabic version of the spiritual well-being Scale, and the Arabic Scale of death anxiety were used to measure religious coping, spiritual well-being, and death anxiety, respectively. The majority of the participating older adults were found to have low levels of religious coping and spiritual well-being and high levels of death anxiety. Further, in comparison to male older adults, female older adults were found to have higher levels of religious coping and lower levels of death anxiety. Moreover, in comparison to widowed older adults, married older adults were found to have higher levels of death anxiety. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, religious coping, and spiritual well-being were found to be significant predictors of death anxiety in older adults.

Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Lester, D., Maltby, J., & Tomás-Sábado, J. (2009). The Arabic scale of death anxiety: some results from east and west. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 59(1), 39–50.

Alahdal, H., Basingab, F., & Alotaibi, R. (2020). An analytical study on the awareness, attitude and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Journal of Infection and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.06.015CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Alorani, O. I., & Alradaydeh, M. T. F. (2018). Spiritual well-being, perceived social support, and life satisfaction among university students. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 23(3), 291–298.

Amer, M. M., Hovey, J. D., Fox, C. M., & Rezcallah, A. (2008). Initial development of the brief Arab religious coping scale (BARCS). Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 3(1), 69–88.

Armitage, R., & Nellums, L. B. (2020). COVID-19 and the consequences of isolating the elderly. The Lancet Public Health, 5(5), 256.

Azaiza, F., Ron, P., Shoham, M., & Gigini, I. (2010). Death and dying anxiety among elderly Arab Muslims in Israel. Death Studies, 34(4), 351–364.PubMed

Bakan, A. B., Arli, S. K., & Yıldız, M. (2019). Relationship between religious orientation and death anxiety in elderly individuals. Journal of Religion and Health, 58(6), 2241–2250.PubMed

Bala, R., & Maheshwari, S. K. (2019). Death anxiety and death depression among elderly. International Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 5(1), 55–59.

Bassett, J. F., & Bussard, M. L. (2018). Examining the complex relation among religion, morality, and death anxiety: Religion can be a source of comfort and concern regarding fears of death. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222818819343.

Bolghan-Abadi, M., Ghofrani, F., & Abde-Khodaei, M. S. (2014). Study of the spiritual intelligence role in predicting university students’ quality of life. Journal of Religion and Health, 53(1), 79–85.PubMed

Byrne, C. M., & Morgan, D. D. (2020). Patterns of religiosity, death anxiety, and hope in a population of community-dwelling palliative care patients in new Zealand—what gives hope if religion can’t? American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine ®, 37(5), 377–384.

Chatard, A., Renoux, M., Monéger, J., & Selimbegovic, L. (2020). Physical warmth attenuates ethnocentric bias under mortality salience: An embodied terror management perspective. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/x6m8u.

Cohen, J. (2013). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Cambridge: Academic press.

Covid, C. D. C., & Team, R. (2020). Severe outcomes among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—United States, February 12–March 16, 2020. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(12), 343–346.

D’Adamo, H., Yoshikawa, T., & Ouslander, J. G. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 in geriatrics and long-term care: The ABCDs of COVID-19. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 68(5), 912–917.PubMed

Dadfar, M., Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Lester, D., & Atef Vahid, M. K. (2017). The psychometric parameters of the Farsi form of the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety. The Scientific World Journal. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7468217CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Dadfar, M., Lester, D., & Bahrami, F. (2016). Death anxiety, reliability, validity, and factorial structure of the Farsi form of the Arabic scale of death anxiety in Iranian old-aged persons. Journal of Aging Research, 2016, 2906857. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2906857CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Edler, C., Schröder, A. S., Aepfelbacher, M., Fitzek, A., Heinemann, A., Heinrich, F., & Püschel, K. (2020). Dying with SARS-CoV-2 infection—an autopsy study of the first consecutive 80 cases in Hamburg, Germany. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 134, 1275–1284.PubMedPubMedCentral

Eisazadeh, F., Aliakbari Dehkordi, M., & Aghajanbigloo, S. (2020). Psychological consequences of patients with coronavirus (COVID-19): A Qualitative study. Biquarterly Iranian Journal of Health Psychology, 2(2), 9–20.

Elizarrarás-Rivas, J., Vargas-Mendoza, J. E., Mayoral-García, M., Matadamas-Zarate, C., Elizarrarás-Cruz, A., Taylor, M., & Agho, K. (2010). Psychological response of family members of patients hospitalised for influenza A/H1N1 in Oaxaca. Mexico. BMC Psychiatry, 10(1), 104. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-10-104CrossRefPubMed

Ellison, C. W. (1983). Spiritual well-being: Conceptualization and measurement. Journal of Psychology & Theology, 11, 330–340.

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.PubMed

Garg, R., Chauhan, V., & Sabreen, B. (2018). Coping styles and life satisfaction in palliative care. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 24(4), 491–495.PubMedPubMedCentral

Handal, P. J., & Lace, J. W. (2017). Differential effects of family structure on religion and spirituality of emerging adult males and females. Journal of Religion and Health, 56(4), 1361–1370.PubMed

Hall, G., Laddu, D. R., Phillips, S. A., Lavie, C. J., & Arena, R. (2020). A tale of two pandemics: How will COVID-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affect one another? Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2020.04.005CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Hammermeister, J., Flint, M., El-Alayli, A., Ridnour, H., & Peterson, M. (2005). Gender differences in spiritual well-being: Are females more spiritually-well than males? American Journal of Health Studies, 20(1/2), 80–84.

Henrie, J., & Patrick, J. H. (2014). Religiousness, religious doubt, and death anxiety. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 78(3), 203–227.PubMed

Hoelterhoff, M., & Chung, M. C. (2013). Death anxiety and well-being; coping with life-threatening events. Traumatology, 19(4), 280–291.

Iqbal, F., Zaman, S., Karandikar, S., Hendrickse, C., & Bowley, D. M. (2016). Engaging with faith councils to develop stoma-specific fatawās: a novel approach to the healthcare needs of muslim colorectal patients. Journal of Religion and Health, 55(3), 803–811.PubMed

Jong, J. (2020). Death anxiety and religious belief: A critical review. In C. Routledge & K. Vail III (Eds.), The science of religion, spirituality, and existentialism (pp. 21–35). Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier.

Khawar, M., Aslam, N., & Aamir, S. (2013). Perceived social support and death anxiety among patients with chronic diseases. Pakistan Journal of Medical Research, 52(3), 75–79.

Kim, Y., & Kim, M. (2019). Factors influencing death anxiety in community-dwelling elderly: Based on the ecology theory. The Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, 22(1), 30–38.

Le Couteur, D. G., Anderson, R. M., & Newman, A. B. (2020). COVID-19 through the lens of gerontology. The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 75(9), e119–e120. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa077.

Li, Q., Guan, X., Wu, P., Wang, X., Zhou, L., Tong, Y., & Xing, X. (2020). Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel coronavirus–infected pneumonia. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(13), 1199–1207.PubMed

Lu, H., Nie, P., & Qian, L. (2020). Do quarantine experiences and attitudes towards COVID-19 affect the distribution of mental health in China? A quantile regression analysis. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-020-09851-0.

MacLeod, R., Crandall, J., Wilson, D., & Austin, P. (2016). Death anxiety among New Zealanders: The predictive role of gender and marital status. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 19(4), 339–349.

MacLeod, R., Wilson, D. M., Crandall, J., & Austin, P. (2019). Death anxiety among new Zealanders: The predictive roles of religion, spirituality, and family connection. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 80(1), 3–19.

Martins, H., Dias Domingues, T., & Caldeira, S. (2020). Spiritual well-being in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient setting: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 38(1), 68–77.PubMed

McParland, P., Kelly, F., & Innes, A. (2017). Dichotomising dementia: Is there another way? Sociology of Health & Illness, 39(2), 258–269.

Momtaz, Y. A., Haron, S. A., Ibrahim, R., & Hamid, T. A. (2015). Spousal death anxiety in old age: Gender perspective. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 72(1), 69–80.

Musa, A. S., & Pevalin, D. J. (2012). An Arabic version of the spiritual well-being scale. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 22(2), 119–134.

Musa, A. S., Pevalin, D. J., & Shahin, F. I. (2016). Impact of spiritual well-being, spiritual perspective, and religiosity on the self-rated health of Jordanian Arab Christians. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 27(6), 550–557.PubMed

Onder, G., Rezza, G., & Brusaferro, S. (2020). Case-fatality rate and characteristics of patients dying in relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA, 323(18), 1775–1776.PubMed

Padela, A. I., Killawi, A., Heisler, M., Demonner, S., & Fetters, M. D. (2011). The role of imams in American Muslim health: Perspectives of Muslim community leaders in Southeast Michigan. Journal of Religion and Health, 50(2), 359–373.PubMed

Rosmarin, D. H., & Leidl, B. (2020). Spirituality, religion, and anxiety disorders. In D. H. Rosmarin & H. G. Koenig (Eds.), Handbook of spirituality, religion, and mental health (pp. 41–60). Academic Press (Elsevier).

Safren, S. A., Gershuny, B. S., & Hendriksen, E. (2003). Symptoms of posttraumatic stress and death anxiety in persons with HIV and medication adherence difficulties. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 17(12), 657–664.PubMed

Shim, E., Tariq, A., Choi, W., Lee, Y., & Chowell, G. (2020). Transmission potential and severity of COVID-19 in South Korea. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 93, 339–344.PubMedPubMedCentral

Solaimanizadeh, F., Mohammadinia, N., & Solaimanizadeh, L. (2019). The relationship between spiritual health and religious coping with death anxiety in the elderly. Journal of Religion and Health, 59, 1925–1932.

Soleimani, M. A., Sharif, S. P., Yaghoobzadeh, A., Yeoh, K. K., & Panarello, B. (2018). Exploring the relationship between spiritual well-being and death anxiety in survivors of acute myocardial infarction: moderating role of sex, marital status and social support. Journal of Religion and Health, 57(2), 683–703.PubMed

Semenova, V., & Stadtlander, L. (2016). Death anxiety, depression, and coping in family caregivers. Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 10(1), 34–48.

Vail, K. E., Rothschild, Z. K., Weise, D. R., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J. (2010). A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of religion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(1), 84–94.PubMed

Vasigh, A., Tarjoman, A., & Borji, M. (2018). The effect of spiritual-religious interventions on patients’ pain status: Systematic review. Anaesthesia, Pain & Intensive Care, 22(4), 499–505.

Vishkin, A., & Tamir, M. (2020). Fear not: Religion and emotion regulation in coping with existential concerns. In K. E. Vail III & C. Routledge (Eds.), The science of religion, spirituality, and existentialism (pp. 325–338). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Waskowic, T. D., & Chartier, B. M. (2003). Attachment and the experience of grief following the loss of a spouse. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 47(1), 77–91.

Zhang, J., Yu, M., Tong, S., Liu, L. Y., & Tang, L. V. (2020). Predictive factors for disease progression in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan China. Journal of Clinical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104392CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Zhang, S. X., Wang, Y., Rauch, A., & Wei, F. (2020). Unprecedented disruption of lives and work: Health, distress and life satisfaction of working adults in China one month into the COVID-19 outbreak. Psychiatry Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112958CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: Association of Death Anxiety with Spiritual Well-Being and Religious Coping in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Mohammad Rababa
Audai A. Hayajneh
Wegdan Bani-Iss
Publication date: 01-02-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: COVID-19
Anxiety
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 1/2021
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01129-x

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Association of Death Anxiety with Spiritual Well-Being and Religious Coping in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

Spiritual Intelligence and Post-abortion Depression: A Coping Strategy

Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Death and Their Effects on Spirituality and Spiritual Care

“You Will Not Mourn Your Children”: Spirituality and Child Health in Ibadan Urban Markets

Relationship Between Fear of Childbirth and Psychological and Spiritual Well-Being in Pregnant Women

Prayer Moderating Job Stress Among Muslim Nursing Staff at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)

Religion, Age, Education, Lifestyle, and Health: Structural Equation Modeling