Journals / Kıbrıs Türk Psikiyatri ve Psikoloji Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1

COVID-19 Anxiety and Death Anxiety: The Predicting Role of Death Anxiety

COVID-19 Kaygısı ve Ölüm Kaygısı: Ölüm Kaygısının Yordayıcı Rolü

Zeynep Demirtaş(SAKARYA UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF EDUCATION)0000-0002-0403-7199
Nihan Arslan(NECMETTIN ERBAKAN UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-2451-0852
Aslı Kartol(GAZİANTEP ÜNİVERSİTESİ, GAZİANTEP EĞİTİM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-8127-0560
Pages
11–18
Publication Date
2026-03-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Furthermore, the results indicated that the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for use in the Turkish cultural context.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The primary aim of this study is to examine the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and death anxiety among adults in the post-pandemic period.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Additionally, the study aims to adapt the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Furthermore, the results indicated that the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for use in the Turkish cultural context.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:COVID-19 · Kaygı · Ölüm

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to examine the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and death anxiety among adults in the post-pandemic period. Additionally, the study aims to adapt the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties. This research was conducted within the framework of the relational screening model. The COVID-19 Anxiety Scale was adapted into Turkish, and validity and reliability analyses were performed. Data were collected using the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale and the Death Anxiety Scale. The participants consisted of 307 adults from Turkey. The relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and death anxiety was examined using correlation and stepwise regression analyses. Factor analyses were conducted for the scale adaptation process. According to the findings, there were positive relationships between the subdimensions of death anxiety—namely Fear of the Unknown About Death, Thought and Witnessing of Death, and Fear of Pain—and COVID-19 anxiety. Furthermore, the results indicated that the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for use in the Turkish cultural context. In this regard, it can be concluded that death anxiety plays a significant role in understanding anxiety levels among adults during and after pandemic periods.

Özet

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, pandemi sonrasında yetişkinlerde COVID-19 kaygısı ile ölüm kaygısı arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektir. Ayrıca çalışmada COVID-19 Anksiyetesi Ölçeği’nin Türkçeye uyarlanması ve psikometrik özelliklerinin değerlendirilmesi de amaçlanmıştır. Bu araştırma, ilişkisel tarama modeli kapsamında gerçekleştirilmiştir ve COVID-19 Anksiyetesi Ölçeği, Türkçeye uyarlanarak geçerlik ve güvenirlik analizleri yapılmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak COVID-19 Anksiyetesi Ölçeği ile Ölüm Anksiyetesi Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Katılımcılar, Türkiye'den 307 yetişkinden oluşmaktadır. COVID-19 Anksiyetesi ile Ölüm Anksiyetesi arasındaki ilişkiler korelasyon analizi ve aşamalı regresyon analizi kullanılarak incelenmiştir. Ölçek uyarlama çalışmasında faktör analizleri yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçlarına göre yetişkinlerde Ölüm Anksiyetesi ölçeğinin Ölümün Belirsizliği, Ölümü Düşünme ve Tanıklık Etme ve Acı alt boyutları ile COVID-19 Anksiyetesi arasında pozitif ilişkiler olduğu bulunmuştur. Bununla birlikte COVID-19 kaygısı ölçeğinin Türk kültüründe uygulanabilir, geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçek olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda salgın dönemlerinde ve sonrasında yetişkinlerin kaygı düzeylerinin anlaşılmasında ölüm anksiyetesinin önemli bir rol oynadığı söylenebilir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Demirtaş, Z., Arslan, N., Arslan, S., Kartol, A., Sarışık, S. (2026). COVID-19 Anxiety and Death Anxiety: The Predicting Role of Death Anxiety. Kıbrıs Türk Psikiyatri ve Psikoloji Dergisi, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 1, 11–18. https://doi.org/10.35365/ctjpp.26.1.02

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (48)

  1. Akkuzu, H., Yumuşak, F. N., Karaman, G., Ladikli, N., Türkkan, Z., & Bahadır, E. (2020). Koronavirüs Kaygı Ölçeği’nin Türkçe güvenirlik ve geçerlik çalışması. Kıbrıs Türk Psikiyatri ve Psikoloji Dergisi, 2(2), 63–67. https://doi.org/10.35365/ctjpp.20.2.09
  2. Arden, M. A., & Chilcot, J. (2020). Health psychology and the coronavirus (COVID‐19) global pandemic: A call for research. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25(2), 231-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12414.
  3. Arslan, G. (2021). Understanding wellbeing and death obsession of young adults in the context of Coronavirus experiences: Mitigating the effect of mindful awareness, Death Studies, 46(8), 1923-1932. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1871122
  4. Banerjee, D., & Rai, M. (2020). Social isolation in Covid-19: The impact of loneliness. Int J Soc Psychiatry, 66(6), 525–527. https://doi.org10.1177/0020764020922269
  5. Biçer, İ., Çakmak, C., Demir, H., & Kurt, M. E. (2020). Koronavirüs Anksiyete Ölçeği Kısa Formu: Türkçe geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Anadolu Kliniği Tıp Bilimleri Dergisi, 25(1), 216–225. https://doi.org/10.21673/anadoluklin.731092
  6. Bostan, C. M., Hrițuleac, A., & Măgurianu, L. A. (2023). Death anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety: The mediating role of religious relational identification and the impact of emotional regulation strategies. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 91(3), 1268-1285. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228231151744
  7. Bourmistrova, N. W., Solomon, T., Braude, P., Strawbridge, R., & Carter, B. (2021). Long-term effects of COVID-19 on mental health: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 299, 118–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.031
  8. Choi, E., Lee, J., & Lee, S. A. (2020). Validation of the Korean version of the obsession with COVID-19 scale and the Coronavirus anxiety scale, Death Studies, 46(3), 608-614. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1833383
  9. Curșeu, P. L., Coman, A. D., Panchenko, A., Fodor, O. C., & Ratiu, L. (2023). Death anxiety, death reflection and interpersonal communication as predictors of social distance towards people infected with COVID 19. Current Psychology, 42, 1490–1503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01171-8
  10. Çokluk, Ö., Şekercioğlu, G., & Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2018). Sosyal bilimler için çok değişkenli istatistik: SPSS ve LISREL uygulamaları (5. baskı). Türkiye, Ankara: Pegem Akademi. ISBN: 978-605-5885-67-0.
  11. Duan, L. & Zhu, G. (2020). Psychology calinter inventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Lancet Psychiatry, 7(4), 300–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30073-0
  12. Duman, N. (2020). Üniversite öğrencilerinde Covid-19 korkusu ve belirsizliğe tahammülsüzlük. The Journal of Social Science, 4(8), 426-437. https://doi.org/10.30520/tjsosci.748404
  13. Gruchoła, M. & Sławek Czochra, M. (2020). “The culture of fear” of inhabitants of EU countries in their reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic – A study based on the reports of the Eurobarometer. Safety Science, 135, 105140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105140
  14. Guan, W. J., Ni, Z. Y., Hu, Y., Liang, W. H., & Ou, C. Q., (2020). Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med, 382(18), 1708–1720. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032
  15. Gündoğan, S., & Arpacı, İ. (2022). COVID-19 korkusunun depresyon ve ölüm kaygısı üzerindeki etkisi: Depresyonun aracılık rolü. Current Psychology, 43, 12990–12997. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03120-z
  16. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
  17. Hui, D. S., Azhar, E. I., Madani, T. A., Ntoumi, F., Kock, R. & Dar, O. (2020) The continuing 2019- nCoV epidemic there at of novel coronaviruses to global health: The latest 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. Int J In fect Dis Elsevier, 91, 264–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.01.009
  18. Kaplan, V. (2021). The burnout and loneliness levels of housewives in home-quarantine during COVID-19 pandemic. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 3(2), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.35365/ctjpp.21.2.13
  19. Karadağ, S., Ergin, Ç., & Erden, S. (2023). Anxiety, depression and death anxiety in individuals with COVID-19. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 90(4), 1002–1016. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228221124981 Karasar, N. (2022). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi: Kavramlar, ilkeler, teknikler (35. baskı). Türkiye, Ankara: Nobel Yayınları. ISBN: 978-605-5426-58-3.
  20. Kozloff, N., Mulsant, B. H., Stergiopoulos, V., & Voineskos, A. N. (2020). The COVID-19 global pandemic: Implications for people with schizophrenia and related disorders. Schizophr Bull, 46(4), 752–757. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa051
  21. Le Vigouroux, S., Chevrier, B., Montalescot, L., & Charbonnier, E. (2025). Post-pandemic student mental health and coping strategies: A time trajectory study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 376, 260–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.02.015
  22. Lee, S. A. (2020). Corona virus anxiety scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Studies, 44(7), 393-401. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481
  23. Letzner, R. D. (2023). Death anxiety in connection to anxiety and depressive disorders: A meta-analysis on emotional distress in clinical and community samples. Death Studies, 48(4), 393–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2230556
  24. Lu, R., Zhao, X., Li, J., Niu, P., Yang, B., Wu, H., … & Tan, W. (2020). Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding. The Lancet, 395(10224), 565–574. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30251-8
  25. Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258
  26. Min, S., Jeong, Y. H., Kim, J., Koo, J. W., & Ahn, Y. M. (2021). The aftermath: Post-pandemic psychiatric implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, a South Korean perspective. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 671722. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.671722
  27. Ministry of Health. (2020). COVID-19 information page. Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health. https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr (Retrieved July 22, 2024).
  28. Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
  29. Pyszczynski, T., Lockett, M., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (2020). Terror management theory and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(6), 734–749. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167820959488
  30. Rajkumar, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 102066, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066.
  31. Sanderson, W. C., Arunagiri, V., Funk, A. P., Ginsburg, K. L., Krychiw, K. J., Limowski, A. R., Olesnycky, O. S., & Stout, Z. (2020). The Nature and Treatment of Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress. J Contemp Psychother, 50, 251-263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-020-09463-7.
  32. Sarıkaya, Y. (2013). The Development, Validity and Reliability of the Death Anxiety Scale. (Unpublished Master Thesis). Gaziosmanpaşa University, Eskişehir, Türkiye.
  33. Silva, W. A. D., Brito, T. R. S., & Pereira, C. R. (2021). Anxiety associated with COVID-19 and concerns about death: Impacts on psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 176, 110772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110772
  34. Silva, W. A. D., de Sampaio Brito, T. R. & Pereira, C. R. (2022). COVID-19 anxiety scale (CAS): Development and psychometric properties. Curr Psychol, 41, 5693–5702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01195-0
  35. Singh, P., Singh, S., Sohal, M., Dwivedi, Y. K., Kahlon, K. S., & Sawhney, R. S. (2020). Psychological fear and anxiety caused by COVID-19: Insights from Twitter analytics. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 102280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102280.
  36. Spitzenstätter, D., & Schnell, T. (2020). The existential dimension of the pandemic: Death attitudes, personal worldview, and coronavirus anxiety. Death Studies, 46(5), 1031–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1848944
  37. Şayık, D., Yiğit, D., Açıkgöz, A., Ertuğrul, Ç., & Mumcu, Ö. (2021). Koronavirüs anksiyete ölçeği’nin Türkçe geçerliliği ve güvenirliği. Eskişehir Medical Journal, 2(1), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.48176/esmj.2021.10
  38. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). ABD, Boston, MA: Pearson Education. ISBN: 0205849571, 9780205849574.
  39. Tang, W., Hu, T., Hu, B., Jin, C., Wang, G. & Xie, C. (2020). Prevalence and correlates of PTSD and depressive symptoms one month after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in a sample of home-quarantined Chinese university students. J Affect Disord, 274, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.009
  40. Temel, M., Ok, E., & Boyacıoğlu, N. E. (2023). Death anxiety, mental health, and meaning in life during COVID-19. Hacettepe University Faculty of Health Sciences Journal, 10(3), 535–546. https://doi.org/10.21020/husbfd.1185854 Taylor, S. (2022). The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease. UK, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN: 9781527539594.
  41. Tsang, S., Avery, A. R. & Duncan, G. E. (2021). Fear and depression linked to COVID-19 exposure A study of adult twins during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 296, 113699, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113699
  42. Wang, X., & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cross-sectional studies: Strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. Chest, 158(1S), S65–S71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.03.012
  43. Wang, Y., Di, Y., Ye, J., & Wei, W. (2021). Study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some regions of China. Psychology, Health & Medicine 26(1), 13-22, https://doi.org/10.1080/ 13548506.2020.1746817
  44. World Health Organization (WHO). (2020, March 11). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19-11 March 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19—11-march-2020 (Retrieved August 22, 2024).
  45. Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. ABD, New York: Basic Books. ISBN: 13 978-0465021475.
  46. Yang, D., Xia, Y., Wu, W., Feng, Y., Liang, J., & Zhang, J. (2023). Death anxiety during COVID-19 and its related factors among Chinese elderly people. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228231157446
  47. Yıldırım, M., Geçer, E., & Akgül, Ö. (2021). The impacts of vulnerability, perceived risk, and fear on preventive behaviours against COVID-19. Psychology, Health & Medicine 26(1), 35-43, https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2020.1776891
  48. Yiğitalp, G., & Gümüş, F. (2022). COVID-19 korkusu, ölüm kaygısı ve yaşam anlamı arasındaki ilişkiler: Hemşirelik öğrencileri örneği. International Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 7(2), 157–172. https://doi.org/10.33457/ijhsrp.1112061