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

Journal of Religion and Health volume 59, pages 1055–1064 (2020)Cite this article

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.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Mohammadzadeh

  2. Department of Psychology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

    Mahmoud Najafi

Authors
  1. Ali Mohammadzadeh
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  2. Mahmoud Najafi
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Correspondence to Mahmoud Najafi.

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Human and Animal Rights

All procedures used in this article involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution at which the research was conducted. This article does not contain any studies with animals.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in our study.

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Mohammadzadeh, A., Najafi, M. The Comparison of Death Anxiety, Obsession, and Depression Between Muslim Population with Positive and Negative Religious Coping. J Relig Health 59, 1055–1064 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0679-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0679-y

Keywords

  • Death anxiety
  • Death obsession
  • Death depression
  • Religious coping