Death Attitude Profile – Revised
DAP-RAttitudes Toward Death
32 items
1994
α 0.71–0.97
Free
Wong, P.T.P., Reker, G.T., & Gesser, G.
Clinical safeguarding note: Five subscale scores analysed separately. Freely available from Paul Wong. The Neutral Acceptance subscale is associated with better psychological adjustment. Escape Acceptance is associated with depression and suicidal ideation. Widely used in palliative care, gerontology, and existential therapy research.
What it measures
Measures five distinct attitudes toward death: fear, avoidance, neutral acceptance (death as a natural fact), approach acceptance (death as entry to a positive afterlife), and escape acceptance (death as relief from a painful life). Used in existential psychology, gerontology, palliative care, and suicidology research.
Response format
Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)
Representative items
- I fear death. (Fear of Death)
- The thought of death seldom enters my mind. (Death Avoidance)
- I believe that death is a natural aspect of life. (Neutral Acceptance)
- I believe that heaven will be a much better place than this world. (Approach Acceptance)
- Death will bring an end to all my troubles. (Escape Acceptance)
Recommended companion scales
Citation
Wong, P.T.P., Reker, G.T., & Gesser, G. (1994). Death Attitude Profile-Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death. In R.A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application (pp. 121–148). Taylor & Francis.
Keywords
#death#deathanxiety#existential#palliative#acceptance#afterlife#fear#gerontology