Death literacy and death anxiety in Turkey: a cross-sectional study highlighting an inverse association

Death anxiety is a multidimensional construct related to awareness of mortality and is clinically and socially relevant because it may be associated with psychological distress, avoidance of death-related communication, and difficulties in coping with illness, caregiving, bereavement, and end-of-life decision-making. Death literacy refers to the knowledge and skills needed to understand and navigate death, dying, bereavement, and end-of-life care, and may represent a potentially modifiable domain associated with death-related distress. However, community-based evidence on the relationship between death literacy and death anxiety in Turkey remains limited. This study aimed to examine the association between death literacy and death anxiety in a community sample in Turkey. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 526 adults residing in Turkey who were recruited through a non-probability convenience sampling strategy. Participants completed the Turkish Death Literacy Index (DLI), the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and a demographic questionnaire assessing age, gender, education level, income, marital status, chronic illness, bereavement history, death-related experiences, and religiosity. Death literacy was moderately and negatively correlated with death anxiety ( r = -.30, p < .001), whereas age was positively correlated with death anxiety ( r = .16, p < .001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that lower death literacy, older age, female gender, and lower educational level were associated with higher death anxiety. These findings indicate an inverse association between death literacy and death anxiety in this community sample. Death literacy may represent a potentially modifiable domain associated with death-related distress, but longitudinal and intervention-based studies are needed to clarify the direction and mechanisms of this relationship.