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Death Understanding and Fear of Death in Young Children

University of Queensland, Australia, vps{at}psy.uq.edu.au

Maya Griffiths

University of Queensland, Australia

The purpose of this study was to test whether the developmental acquisition of a mature concept of death, that is, understanding death as a biological event, affects young children's fear of death. Ninety children between the ages of 4 and 8 participated in an interview study in which their understanding of death and their fear of death were both assessed. Levels of general anxiety were also measured via parent report. A regression analysis indicated that more mature death understanding was associated with lower levels of death fear, when age and general anxiety were controlled. These data provide some empirical support for the widely held belief that discussing death and dying in biological terms is the best way to alleviate fear of death in young children.

Key Words: children • death anxiety • death concept • normal fear

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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 12, No. 4, 525-535 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1359104507080980


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Slaughter, V. Articles by Griffiths, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Slaughter, V. Articles by Griffiths, M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?