The effects of a death education unit on the attitudes toward death and anxieties toward death of college freshmen

Freshmen enrolled in three health and safety classes at a southern university were used in the study. The first class was designated as Experimental Group I. (n = 34). The second class was designated as Experimental Group II (n = 39) and the third class was designated as Control Group III (n = 37). Hardt's Death Attitude Scale and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale were used to obtain the necessary data. Each group received a pretest. Groups I and II received a 2-week unit in death education. Group I received a posttest immediately after the conclusion of the unit, Group II received a posttest 1 month after the conclusion of the unit. Group III received a posttest 2 weeks after the pretest and a second posttest 1 month after the first posttest. A statistical t-test was applied to determine significant differences in the means of the groups. The results showed no significant difference between the group means in the attitudes toward death and the anxieties toward death of college freshmen. Treatment and retention appeared not to be significant factors in influencing change in attitudes and anxieties of colleges freshmen.