The Effectiveness of an Online Self-Delivered Death Anxiety Intervention

NCT06801132 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Facing death anxiety pilot
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 47
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effectiveness of the online self-delivered death anxiety intervention developed by our team in the general population with a randomized controlled trial. The study will recruit 50 participants, with 25 randomized to the death anxiety intervention group and 25 randomized to the control group (waiting list). The online intervention on death anxiety consists of 4 phases that take about 2 hours in total. The primary outcome DAS (Death Anxiety Scale) and DABBS (Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale) will be administered on baseline, post-treatment, 1-week follow-up, and 2-week follow-up assessments.

Conditions

Death Anxiety

Keywords

Death Anxiety; randomized controlled trial; self-delivered

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Templer Death Anxiety Scale (T-DAS)

  The T-DAS consists of 15 items, describing the experiences that individuals feel when facing death. The Chinese version suggests a 5-point scale according to the later extended version of the scale, ranging from 1 "Strongly Agree" to 5 "Strongly Disagree", with higher scores representing more severe death anxiety. The higher the score, the more serious the death anxiety, and a total score greater than 43 according to the rules can be considered to have a high level of death anxiety. The Chinese version of T-DAS has been widely used and has shown good reliability and validity.

  baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

• Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale (DABBS)

  The DABBS consists of 18 entries describing overall feelings about death (4 entries), thoughts and beliefs related to death (7 entries), and avoidance behaviors related to death (7 entries), with the scale being scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1, "Strongly Disagree/Never Have This Thought/Never Avoid This Behavior" to 5 "Strongly agree/always have this thought/always avoid this behavior," with higher scores representing the severity of the individual's adverse beliefs and behaviors regarding death.

  baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

• Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

• 4-dimensional anxiety scale

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

• Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale (PWS)

  baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

Other Outcomes (7)

• Adverse Childhood Experiences

  baseline

• Social support

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

• Post-traumatic responses scale - Flight subscale

  baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Death anxiety

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention

Waiting-List (WL) condition

OTHER

Participants assigned to WL will be asked not to use our death anxiety intervention or seek additional help related to death anxiety during the 1-week intervention period. After the one-month follow-up of the experimental group, the WL group will receive the same intervention for death anxiety. WL participants will also be given contact information to use in case of increasing distress.

Behavioral: Waiting-List (WL) condition

Interventions

Waiting-List (WL) condition BEHAVIORAL

Participants assigned to WL will be asked not to use our death anxiety intervention or seek additional help related to death anxiety during the 1-week intervention period. After the one-month follow-up of the experimental group, the WL group will receive the same intervention for death anxiety. WL participants will also be given contact information to use in case of increasing distress.

Waiting-List (WL) condition

Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention BEHAVIORAL

The online self-guided death anxiety intervention developed in this study is based on the Death Education and CBT framework. It took approximately two hours to complete the full intervention. The main content includes: 1. Emotional reactions and behavioral manifestations about death, fear management theories, and Chinese cultural attitudes toward death; 2. Imagine what you would like to say to yourself at the end of your life, and learn about various attitudes towards death through numerous examples; 3. Expressive writing, with moderate emotional exposure to stimulate reflection, accompanied by breathing exercises and positive thinking about death, to improve tolerance and control of death anxiety, and finally to correct biased perceptions by examining bad beliefs about death; 4. Prioritize the importance of things and make a practical action plan to enrich your life.

Death anxiety

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years of age
• Normal literacy skills and ability to use a smartphone proficiently
• Higher death anxiety that is above the cutoff of our measurement
• Voluntarily participate in this intervention and be able to provide informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Severe depressive state or risk of suicidal self-injury, i.e., the total score of Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item ≥19 or the score of 9th item ≥2
• Diagnosed within 6 months with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric disorders
• Have received any intervention for death anxiety or CBT intervention on any topic within the past 6 months.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Peking University: lead
• 101 Institute, Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Peking University

Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 100871, China

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Necrophobia

Interventions

Waiting Lists

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Appointments and Schedules; Organization and Administration; Health Services Administration

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: Randomization was conducted by an independent research assistant, and the random sequence was concealed from the investigator until the process was completed.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 24, 2025
• First Posted: January 30, 2025
• Study Start: February 14, 2025
• Primary Completion: April 4, 2025
• Study Completion: April 4, 2025
• Last Updated: March 16, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (1)