Quick Answers...
Are older adults less anxious about death than are younger and middle-aged adults?
Yes. Although death in industrialized society has come to be
associated primarily with old age, studies generally
indicate that death anxiety in adults decreases as age
increases. Among the factors that may contribute to lower
anxiety are a sense that goals have been fulfilled, living
longer than expected, coming to terms with finitude, and
dealing with the deaths of friends. The general finding that
older adults are less fearful of death than middle-aged
counterparts should not obscure the fact that some subgroups
may have considerable preoccupation and concern about death
and dying. Some fear the process of dying much more than
death itself.
Linda Breytspraak, Center on Aging Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City
 |
Site Administrator: |
|
|
|
Last update: Sunday, July 06, 2008