Some explanations for the paucity of empirical studies of death fears in healthy, nonbereaved children are offered, and issues in studying this topic are discussed. Three major findings from the existing literature — occurrence, age/developmental differences, and gender differences in frequency, intensity, and quality — are presented, followed by a discussion of questions that remain largely unanswered and explanations that may need revision.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderI. E., and AdlersteinA. M.. 1958. Affective responses to the concept of death in a population of children and early adolescents. Journal of Genetic Psychology93: 167–77.
2.
AnthonyS.1972. The discovery of death in childhood and after. New York: Basic Books.
3.
BowlbyJ.1973. Attachment and loss: Separation anxiety and anger. Vol. 2. New York: Basic Books.
4.
BurnhamJ. J., and GulloneE.. 1997. The fear schedule for children—II: A psychometric investigation with American data. Behaviour Research & Therapy35: 165–73.
5.
CoxG. R.VandenBerg B. J.FundisR. J., and McGinnisP. J.. 1995. In Beyond the innocence of childhood, Vol. 1, edited by AdamsD. W. and DeveauE. J., 109–21. Amityville, NY: Baywood.
6.
DattelA. R., and NeimeyerR. A.. 1990. Sex differences in death anxiety: Testing the emotional expressiveness hypothesis. Death Studies14: 1–11.
7.
EggermanS., and DustinD.. 1985. Death orientation and communication with the terminally ill. Omega16: 255–65.
8.
ElkindD.1980. The hurried child: Growing up too fast too soon. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
9.
FeifelH., ed. 1959The meaning of death. New York: MacGraw-Hill.
10.
FeifelH., and NagyV. T.. 1981. Another look at fear. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology49: 278–86.
11.
FirestoneR. W.1994. Psychological defenses against death anxiety. In Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation and application, edited by NeimeyerR. A., 217–41. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
12.
FishbeinM., and AjzenI.. 1972. Attitudes and opinions. In Annual Review of Psychology23: 487–544.
13.
FultonR., and BendiksenR.. 1976. Death and identity. Revised ed.Bowies, MD: Charles Press.
14.
GulloneE., and KingN. J.. 1993. The fears of youth in the 1990s: Contemporary normative data. Journal of Developmental Psychology154: 137–53.
15.
GulloneE., and KingN. J.. 1997. Three-year follow-up of normal fear in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years. British Journal of Developmental Psychology15: 97–111.
16.
HalpernE., and PalicL.. 1984. Developmental changes in death anxiety in childhood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology5: 163–72.
17.
LesterD.1994. The Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale. In Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application, edited by NeimeyerR. A., 45–60. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
18.
McCartyJ. B.1980. Children and the fear of death. In Death anxiety, edited by McCartyJ. B., 105–123. New York: Gardner.
19.
McNeilJ. N.1984. Death education in the home: Parents talk with their children. In Childhood and death, edited by WassH. and CorrC. A., 293–313. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
20.
NagyM.1948. The child's theories concerning death. Journal of Genetic Psychology73: 3–27.
21.
NeimeyerR. A., and Van BruntD.. 1995. Death anxiety. In Dying: Facing the Facts. 3d ed., edited by WassH. and NeimeyerR. A., 49–88. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
22.
PierceK. A., and KirkpatrickD. R.. 1992. Do men lie on fear surveys?Behaviour Research & Therapy30: 415–18.
23.
QuadrelM. J.FischhoffB., and DavisW.. 1993Adolescent (in)vulnerability. American Psychologist48: 102–16.
24.
RochlinG.1967. How younger children view death and themselves. In Eplaining death to children, edited by GrollmanE. A., 51–85. Boston: Beacon.
25.
SchellD., and SeefeldtC.. 1991. Development of a death anxiety scale for children. Omega23: 3, 227–34.
26.
TammM. E., and GranqvistR. N.. 1995. The meaning of death for children and adolescents: A phenomenographic study of drawing. Death Studies19: 203–22.
27.
TomerA.1994. Death anxiety in adult life. In Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation and application, edited by NeimeyerR. A., 3–28. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
28.
WahlC. W.1959. The fear of death. In The meaning of death, edited by FeifelH., 16–29. New York: McGraw-Hill.
29.
WassH.1995. Death in the lives of children and adolescents. In Dying: Facing the facts. 3d ed. Edited by WassH. and NeimeyerR. A., 269–301. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
30.
WassH.1997. Children, adolescents, and death. In Death and the quest for meaning, edited by StrackS., 193–215. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
31.
WassH.DinklageR.GordonS. L.RussoG.SparksC. W., and TatumJ.. 1983. Young children's death concepts revisited. Death Education7: 385–96.
32.
WeiningerO.1979. Young children's concepts of dying and dead. Psychological Reports44: 395–407.
33.
WeismanA. D.1972. On dying and denying. New York: Behavioral Publications.
34.
WeismanA. D.1986. The coping capacity: On the nature of being mortal. New York: Human Sciences Press.
35.
WenestamC. G., and WassH.. 1987. Swedish and U.S. children's thinking about death: A qualitative study and cross-cultural comparison. Death Studies11: 99–121.
36.
WongT.P.T.RekerG. T., and GesserG.. 1994. Death attitude profile—revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death. In Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation and application, edited by NeimeyerR. A., 121–48. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
