Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety

BACKGROUND: Death anxiety is regarded as a risk and maintaining factor of psychopathology. While the Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA) is a brief, commonly used assessment, such a tool is lacking in Chinese clinical practice. AIM: The current study was conducted to develop a Chinese version of the ASDA, i.e., the ASDA(C), using a multistage back-translation technique, and examine the psychometric properties of the scale. METHODS: A total of 1372 participants from hospitals and universities located in three geographic areas of China were recruited for this study. To calculate the criterion-related validity of the ASDA(C) compared to the Chinese version of the longer-form Multidimensional Orientation toward Dying and Death Inventory (MODDI-F/chin), 49 undergraduates were randomly assigned to complete both questionnaires. Of the total participants, 56 were randomly assigned to retake the ASDA(C) in order to estimate the one-week, test-retest reliability of the ASDA(C). RESULTS: The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.91 for the whole scale. The one-week, test-retest reliability was 0.96. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed three factors, “fear of dead people and tombs,” “fear of lethal disease,” and “fear of postmortem events,” accounted for 57.09% of the total variance. Factor structure for the three-factor model was sound. The correlation between the total scores on the ASDA(C) and the MODDI-F/chin was 0.54, indicating acceptable concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS: ASDA(C) has adequate psychometrics and properties that make it a reliable and valid scale to assess death anxiety in Mandarin-speaking Chinese.