Psychometric properties of the Death Anxiety Scale in persons with HIV and the general population

Abstract

The aims of this research were to study the internal consistency, factor structure, distri-bution, socio-demographic differences and criteria validity of the Escala de Ansiedad ante la Muerte (EAM; Osadolor, 2005). Three samples were used: one HIV-positive (n = 300) and one general population (n = 300) sample in which only the EAM was applied and another of the gene- ral population (n = 160) to which also the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS; Templer, 1970) was admi- nistered. We recommend reducing the EAM scale to 22 items, eliminating those related to the fear factor. Its structure was constituted by 3 or 4 correlated factors with high internal consistencies; both scales showed an adequate fit to the data. The three-factor solution corresponded to the origi- nal, but in the four-factor solution anxiety was found to consist of two separate factors. We recom-mend its use in Mexico and its study in other Spanish-speaking countries.