The aim of this exploratory survey study was to develop and validate a Buddhist reincarnation beliefs scale and explore the relation between Buddhist reincarnation beliefs and personal death anxiety in 141 older adult Hong Kong Chinese Buddhists. Buddhist reincarnation beliefs were unrelated to personal death anxiety. This suggests that not all…

The purpose of this study is to see if contact with the dead is associated with lower death anxiety among older Mexican Americans. The data come from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans (N = 1,005). The study model specifies that (a) older Mexican Americans who have experienced contact with the dead are more likely to see the…

Research has examined the relationship of styles of attachment to others and meaning with grief and the stress-related growth process. Less has been written on styles of attachment to God and patterns of religious coping and how these constructs may impact adjustment in persons dealing with loss. This study examines the roles of attachment to God,…

The hospice philosophy was founded on a mission to provide comprehensive and holistic services to individuals at the end of life. Hospice interdisciplinary teams work together to offer therapies such as spiritual services, comfort care, and massage therapy to meet patients' physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs. Although the…

This qualitative study aimed to explore the potential role that might be played by the reported experience of "sensing the presence of the deceased" in meaning-making processes in bereavement. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 participants who reported having had such an experience and the transcripts were subjected to…

One of the most commonly cited psychological sequelae of HIV/AIDS is anxiety regarding death due to the illness (i.e., death anxiety; DA). However, extant research is inconclusive on several empirical issues, such as DA's relation to HIV/AIDS diagnostic status, the impact of illness-related symptoms on DA, and factors that may protect against DA.…

Based on coronial data gathered in the state of Queensland in 2004, this article reviews how a change in legislation may have impacted autopsy decision making by coroners. More specifically, the authors evaluated whether the requirement that coronial autopsy orders specify the level of invasiveness of an autopsy to be performed by a pathologist…

Death and rituals performed after death reflect and reproduce social distinctions despite death's popular reputation as a great leveler. This study examines expressions of religiosity and constructions of death in Turkish death announcements, paying particular attention to gendered, ethnic, and temporal variations as well as markers of status and…

This study examines differences in death and dying anxiety between bereaved and nonbereaved elderly Israeli parents, as well as correlates of these factors among bereaved parents. A total of 97 parents (49 bereaved, 48 nonbereaved) completed measures of death and dying anxiety and religiosity. Bereaved parents reported significantly higher dying…

The purpose of this article was to explore Asian Indian American Hindu (AIAH) cultural views related to death and dying. Three focus group interviews were conducted with AIAH persons living in the southern region of United States. The focus group consisted of senior citizens, middle-aged adults, and young adults. Both open-ended and semistructured…

After-death communications (ADCs) are reported encounters with a deceased loved one, a contemporary type of ghost experience heralded as therapeutic in coping with bereavement. Pertinent literature generally illustrates the healing power of ADCs with brief, self-contained episodes. The functions of ADCs over the course of grief need exploration.…

The study examined the relationship between the defensive versus existential religious orientation and mortality salience hypothesis in a country where the predominant type of religion is Islam. It was predicted that the mortality reactions of participants would not differ in accordance with their religious orientations within a Muslim sample. The…

Specialists in death, dying, and bereavement and their consequences for individuals, families, and communities have experience and research findings that are relevant to an understanding of the reactions of individuals faced by deadly violence. At such times, powerful emotions and ingrained patterns of thought and behavior can given rise to…

Meanings of religious and nonreligious spirituality are explored, with implications for death acceptance, death rejection, and life extension. In the first of two exploratory studies, 16 elders low on intrinsic religiosity were compared with 116 elders high in religiosity; they differed both in qualitative responses and on death attitudes. In the…

This study was performed to identify the patterns and mechanisms of the development of personal strength of bereaved older adults over a 4-year period after spousal death. The findings showed that while bereaved older adults, on average, experienced a moderate level of personal strength at 6 months post-spousal death with a slight increase over a…