A General Factor of Death Distress in Seven Clinical and Non-Clinical Groups

The Arabic Scale of Death anxiety (ASDA), the Death Depression Scale (DDS), and the Death Obsession Scale (DOS) were administered, individually, to 7 groups (n = 765) of Egyptian normal participants (non-clinical), anxiety disorder patients, patients suffering from schizophrenia (males and females), and addicts (males only). They were generally matched as groups according to age, occupation, and education. The intercorrelations between the 3 scales in all 7 groups were significant and positive. A general high-loaded factor of death distress was extracted in all 7 groups. It was the only salient factor, accounting for 50-70% of the common variance.