Influencing factorial analysis of death anxiety among middle school students in Guizhou Province

Objective To understand death anxiety among middle school students in Guizhou province, and to provide basic information for psychological crisis prevention.Methods By using multi-stage cluster sampling method, 5 092 middle school students from three areas in Guizhou province were investigated with self-made questionnaire and the Chinese version of Death Anxiety Scale (T-DAS).Data was analyzed by factor analysis and structural equation models using SPSS 17.0 and Amos 21.0.Results Average score of death anxiety was (7.28±3.02).About 2 702 (53.06%) reported afraid of death, 3 126 (62.16%) fearing pressure and pain due to death, 2 890 (56.76%) reported frequent thoughts on short life and 2 248 (44.15%) reckoned death as tremendous trouble.Death anxiety score differed in gender, nationalities, grade and region (P < 0.05).Results from AMOS showed that the strongest risk factor for death anxiety was social bullying (total effect: 0.10), followed by near-death experience (total effect:0.01).Protective factors for death anxiety included school-based life education and intimate family environment, both effect sizes for death anxiety was 0.06.Conclusion Death anxiety is high among middle school students in Guizhou Province.Considering the significant impact of social bullying on death anxiety, schools should pay attention to peer bullying prevention as well as life education.It's also important for parents to provide a supportive family environment.