Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised

Abstract

The Present Study Examined The Factor Structure, reliability, and validity of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R; Wong, Reker, & Gesser, 1994) using a sample of 403 hospital and hospice nurses. A principal-components factor analysis of the DAP-R indicated that the DAP-R may consist of six factors instead of the five originally reported by Wong et al. The first four factors reported by Wong et al., which correspond to the subscales that they labeled Fear of Death, Death Avoidance, Approach Acceptance, and Escape Acceptance, were replicated in the present study, and these subscales were found to have acceptable levels of internal consistency and to possess some degree of concurrent validity. However, the items which loaded on the fifth factor in Wong et al.‘s study (their “Neutral Acceptance” subscale) were split across two factors in the present study, suggesting that this subscale may not be measuring a unitary construct.