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. 目标: 本研究旨在采用多级回译法开发ASDA 中文版， 即ASDA(C)，并研究该量表的心理测量学特性。. 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.