Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Psychiatric Quarterly
Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly 1/2020

Open Access 01-03-2020 | Anxiety | Original Paper

Self-Efficacy as an Agentic Protective Factor against Death Anxiety in PTSD and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity

Authors: Mark Hoelterhoff, Man Cheung Chung

Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly | Issue 1/2020

Login to get access

Abstract

PTSD has profound personal, social and economic impact. Understanding factors that influence strong recovery is a priority for informing the use of limited treatment resources. This study follows up a preliminary finding from Hoelterhoff and Cheung Chung, Psychiatr Q, 88, 635-651, [30] which found that death anxiety is related to PTSD and suggested that self-efficacy may mediate this relationship. Specifically, this study examined self-efficacy as a protective factor in the context of people who have experienced a life-threatening event. 109 undergraduate university students completed self-report questionnaires on, self-efficacy, death anxiety, trauma and well-being as well as a number of demographic factors. Self-efficacy was found that to be significantly and inversely related to death anxiety and psychiatric co-morbidity, but not PTSD. Results were discussed in light of literature regarding death anxiety. It seems that self-efficacy is related to death anxiety and well-being; however, it interacts with these processes independently and not as a mediating factor. More research is needed to understand coping mechanisms that help develop resilience against the negative effects of death anxiety against PTSD and minimize its detrimental impact on mental health.
Literature
1.
2.
Bandura A. Self-efficacy conception of anxiety. Anxiety Res. 1988;1(2):77–98.
3.
Bandura A. Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educ Psychol. 1993;28(2):117–49.
4.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. City: W.H. Freeman & Amp; Company.
5.
Baron R, Kenny D. The moderator mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51:1173–82.PubMed
6.
Becker E. The denial of death. New York City: Free Press; 1997.
7.
Benight C, Bandura A. Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: the role of perceived self-efficacy. Behav Res Ther. 2004;42:1130–48.
8.
Benight CC, Swift E, Sanger J, Smith A, Zeppelin D. Coping self-efficacy as a prime mediator of distress following a natural disaster. J Appl Soc Psychol. 1999;29:2443–64.
9.
Benight C, Freyaldenhoven R, Hughes J, Ruiz J, Zoschke T, Lovallo W. Coping self-efficacy and psychological distress following the Oklahoma City bombing. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2000;30(7):1331–44.
10.
Chamberlain A. A pilot study of the psychological effects post implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) surgery: exploring the effects on a veteran population. Diss Abstr Int. 2008;69(3B):19–45.
11.
Cheng, H. (1997). Wisdom of life and death: Chinese view toward attitudes of life and death. Taipei City,Taiwan: Han hsin wen hua shih yeh yu hsien kung ssu..
12.
Cheung S, Sun SYK. Effects of self-efficacy and social support on the mental health conditions of mutual-aid organization members. Soc Behav Pers. 2000;28:413–22.
13.
Chin WW. PLS-graph User’s guide. C.T. Bauer College of Business: University of Houston, USA; 2001.
14.
Chin WW, Newsted PR. Structural equation modeling analysis with small samples using partial least squares. In: Hoyle R, editor. Statistical strategies for small sample research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications; 1999. p. 307–41.
15.
Cutrona CE, Troutman BR. Social support, infant temperament, and parenting selfefficacy: a mediational model of post-partum depression. Child Dev. 1986;57:1507–18.PubMed
16.
Davis SF, Bremer SA, Anderson BJ, Tramill J. The interrelationships of ego strength, self-esteem, death anxiety, and gender in undergraduate college students. J Gen Psychol. 1983;108:55–9.PubMed
17.
Ferren P. Comparing perceived self-efficacy among adolescent Bosnian and Croatian refugees with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress. 1999;12:405–20.PubMed
18.
Foa EB. Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) manual. Minneapolis: National Computer Systems; 1995.
19.
Fry PS. Perceived self-efficacy domains as predictors of fear of the unknown and fear of dying among older adults. Psychol Aging. 2003;18:474–86.PubMed
20.
Furer P, Walker J. Death anxiety: a cognitive-behavioral approach. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy. 2008, 22;(2):167–82.
21.
Furer P, Walker J, Chartier M, Stein M. Hypochondriacal concerns and somatization in panic disorder. Depress Anxiety. 1997;6:78–85.PubMed
22.
Gekas V. The social psychology of self-efficacy. Annu Rev Sociol. 1989;15:291–316.
23.
Ginzburg K, Solomon Z, Dekel R, Neria Y. Battlefield functioning and chronic PTSD: associations with perceived self efficacy and causal attribution. Personality and individual differences. Personal Individ Differ. 2003;34(3):463–76.
24.
Godkin M, Krant M, Doster N. The impact of hospice care on families. Int J Psychiatry Med. 1984;13(2):153–65.
25.
Goldberg DP, Hillier VF. A scaled version of the general health questionnaire. Psychol Med. 1979;9:139–45.PubMed
26.
Greenberg J, Pyszczynski T, Rosenblatt S, Veeder M, Kirkland S. Evidence for terror management theory; the effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1990;58(2):308–18.
27.
Grembowski D, Patrick D, Diehr P, Durham M, Beresford S, Kay E, et al. Self-efficacy and health behavior among older adults. J Health Soc Behav. 1993;34(2):89–104.PubMed
28.
Herman F, Branscomb A. Who's afraid of death? J Abnorm Psychol. 1973;81:282–8.
29.
30.
Hoelterhoff M, Cheung Chung M. Death anxiety resilience; a mixed methods investigation. Psychiatr Q. 2017;88:635–51.PubMed
31.
Kobasa S. Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1979;37:1–11.PubMed
32.
Lonetto R, Templer D. Death Anxiety. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing Corp; 1986.
33.
McAuley, E. (1992). Understanding exercise behaviour: A self-efficacy perspective. Motivation in Sport and Exercise (New Ed ed., pp. 107–127). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
34.
Neimeyer R. Death Anxiety Handbook: Research, Instrumentation, And Application (Series in Death Education, Aging and Health Care). 1st ed. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis; 1993.
35.
Nelson LD. The multidimensional measurement of death attitudes: Construction and validation of a three-factor instrument. Psychol Rec. 1978;28:525–33.
36.
Norris F, Kaniasty K, Conrad L, Inman G, Murphy A. Placing age differences in cultural context: a comparison of the effects of age on PTSD after disasters in the United States, Mexico, and Poland. Journal of Clinical Geropsychology. 2002;8(3):153–73.
37.
Parsons J, Halkitis P, Bimbi D. Perceptions of the benefits and costs associated with condom use and unprotected sex among late adolescent college students. J Adolesc. 2000;23(4):377–91.PubMed
38.
39.
40.
Robbins R. Death competency: A study of hospice volunteers. Death Stud. 1990;14(3):219–29.PubMed
41.
Schafer JL, Graham JW. Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychol Methods. 2002;7(2):147–77.PubMed
42.
Schwarzer R. Self-Efficacy: Thought Control Of Action. 1st ed. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis; 1992.
43.
Solomon Z, Benbenishty R, Mikulincer M. The contribution of wartime, pre-war, and post-war factors to self-efficacy: a longitudinal study of combat stress reaction. J Trauma Stress. 1999;4:345–61.
44.
Thompson M, Norris F, Hanacek B. Age differences in the psychological consequences of hurricane Hugo. Psychology of Aging. 1993;8(4):606–16.
45.
Tomer A. Death anxiety in adult life: Theoretical perspectives. In: Neimeyer RA, editor. Death anxiety handbook. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis; 1994. p. 3728.
46.
47.
Weisenberg M, Schwarzwald J, Solomon Z. Effects of combat stress reaction and posttraumatic stress disorder on perceived self-efficacy in battle. Mil Psychol. 1991;3:61–71.
48.
White W, Handal P. The relationship between death-anxiety and mental health/distress. Omega. 1990;22(1):13–24.
49.
Williams S, Eisler R, Hersen M, & Miller P. Guided mastery treatment of agoraphobia: Beyond stimulus exposure. Progress in Behavior Modification. 1990;26:89–121.
50.
51.
Zeiss A, Gallagher-Thompson D, Lovett S, Rose J, McKibbin C. Self-efficacy as a mediator of caregiver coping: Development and testing of an assessment model. Journal of Clinical Geropsychology. 1999;5:221–30.
Metadata
Title
Self-Efficacy as an Agentic Protective Factor against Death Anxiety in PTSD and Psychiatric Co-Morbidity
Authors
Mark Hoelterhoff
Man Cheung Chung
Publication date
01-03-2020
Publisher
Springer US
Keyword
Anxiety
Published in
Psychiatric Quarterly / Issue 1/2020
Print ISSN: 0033-2720
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6709
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09694-5

Other articles of this Issue 1/2020

Psychiatric Quarterly 1/2020 Go to the issue

Original Paper

The Role of Depression and Self-Esteem in Facebook Intrusion and Gaming Disorder among Young Adult Gamers

Review Article

The Gut Microbiome and Treatment-Resistance in Schizophrenia

OriginalPaper

Increased Risk of Pain after Electroconvulsive Therapy among Depressed Patients: a Nationwide Study in Taiwan

Original Paper

Adherence to Antidepressant Therapies in Patients with Depressive Disorders Attending an Outpatient Clinic in a Public Mental Health Hospital, Antioquia, Colombia in 2017

Original Paper

Preventing Suicide among Psychiatric Inpatients with Psychotic Depression

Original Paper

Attachment Style and Insight in Schizophrenia: a Cross-Sectional Study