of ability to cope with death, fear of personal death, fear of others' dying, and death anxiety.
It is reasoned that if the program is effective, students would evidence increased ability to cope with death as well as decreased death anxiety, fear of personal death, and fear of the death of others. Further, it was expected that due to their greater cognitive development, sixth graders would benefit more from the program than would fourth graders.
Subjects in the study were drawn from fourth and sixth grade special education classes that had lost a classmate due to death. All students were pretested and posttested on modified versions of four test instruments. These were: (1) the Coping with Death Scale; (2) the Fear of Death of Others and Dying Scale; (3) the Fear of Death and Dying Scale; and (4) the Death Anxiety Scale.
Dependent measures were analyzed at two levels of Testing (pretest, posttest) and two levels of Grade (fourth and sixth) using the two-way analysis of variance statistic. Findings revealed no effects for the Grade Level variable other than the fact that sixth grade students, at both the pre- and posttest level, evidenced greater ability to cope with death than did fourth grade students.
Regarding the measures of fear, findings indicate that the program was effective. Specifically, it was found that students' levels of death anxiety and fear of others dying were reduced by exposure to the program. However, unexpectedly, it was found that fear of personal death was elevated. Reasons for this finding and the grade level findings were discussed.
This study examined for the effects of a death education program on two student groups: (1) a group of special education students in fourth grade who experienced a loss (through death) of a fellow classmate; and (2) a group of special education students in the sixth grade who experienced a loss (through death) of a fellow classmate.
The effects of the death...