Cronbach's a reliability, concurrent validity, and factorial structure of the Death Depression Scale in an Iranian hospital staff sample

Objective: Death depression is an important component in the process of death and dying. Death depression is the second element of death. Depression is one of the important features in death distress. The aim of this study was to explore the performance of the Farsi version of the Death Depression Scale with an Iranian convenience sample of nurses (n =106).Methods: Nurses were selected using a convenience sampling method, and completed the Death Depression Scale (DDS), Death Concern Scale (DCS), Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (CLFDS), Reasons for Death Fear Scale (RDFS), Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and Death Obsession Scale (DOS). Results: The results of exploratory factor analysis on DDS identified 4 factors (56.16%of variance). Factor 1 labeled"Death sadness", Factor 2 labeled"Death finality/end and Death dread/fear", Factor 3 labeled"Death despair and Death depression", and Factor 4 labeled"Death loneliness". Cronbach's a coefficient was 0.84, Spearman-Brown coefficient 0.85, and Guttman Split-Half coefficient 0.81 The DDS correlated 0.40 with the DCS, 0.39 with the CLFDS, 0.50 with the DAS, 0.35 with the RDFS, and 0.44 with the DOS, indicating good construct and criterion-related validity. Concurrent validity for the DDS with the other scales were significant. Conclusions: The DDS has good validity and reliability, and it can use in clinical and research settings.

死亡恐惧原因量表的心理测量学评价

目的死亡恐惧是死亡学的主要科目,有些研究人员已经定义了对死亡的恐惧原因。本研究以106名伊朗护士作为研究样本,目的是探索波斯语版死亡恐惧量表的信效度。方法采用方便抽样方法选取研究对象,并采用死亡恐惧量表(the Reasons for Death Fear Scale,RDFS)、死亡担忧量表(Death Concern Scale,DCS)、Collett-Lester死亡恐惧量表(Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale,CLFDS)、死亡焦虑量表(Death Anxiety Scale,DAS)、死亡抑郁量表(Death Depression Scale,DDS)和死亡困扰量表(Death Obsession Scale,DOS)进行调查。结果量表的Cronbach’sα系数为0.90,重复测量信度为0.64。RDFS与5个量表的相关系数分别为0.34,0.39,0.50,0.35和0.39,显示较好的结构效度和效标关联效度。经过探索性因子分析,确定RDFS包括“疼痛和惩罚的恐惧”“离开人世的恐惧”“宗教的罪过及失败”“与亲人分离”4个因子,可解释66.20%的变异。结论RDFS具有良好的效度和可靠性,且可以应用于临床和研究工作。

Validation of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale among nurses

Objectives:Obsession is one of the important aspects in death distress.The objective of this study was to estimate the reliability,validity,and factorial structure of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale(DOS).Methods:A convenience sample of 106 Iranian nurses from two hospitals at Tehran city,Iran was recruited.They completed the DOS,Death Concern Scale,Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale,Death Anxiety Scale,Reasons for Death Fear Scale,and Death Depression Scale.Results:Cronbach's a for the DOS was 0.95,and 2-week test-retest reliability was 0.74.The DOS correlated 0.48,0.46,0.47,0.39 and 0.44 with the last mentioned scales,respectively(P<0.01),indicating good construct and criterion-related validity.Principle components analysis of the DOS identified three factors accounted for 74.82%of the variance.Factor 1 labeled“Death rumination”(34.78%of the variance),Factor 2 labeled“Death dominance”(29.65%of the variance),and Factor 3 labeled“Death idea repetition”(10.38%of the variance).Conclusions:The DOS has good validity and reliability,and it could be recommended for use in clinical and research settings to assess the death obsession in Iranian nurses.