Death, Anxiety, and Depression: A Comparison between Egyptian, Kuwaiti, and Lebanese Undergraduates

Abstract

Three samples of male and female undergraduates were recruited from Egypt ( N=208), Kuwait ( N=215), and Lebanon ( N=228). The Death Anxiety Scale, Death Depression Scale, Trait Anxiety Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory were administered to participants in small group sessions in each country. Alpha reliabilities of the four scales in the three nations ranged from almost satisfactory to high levels. In death anxiety, Lebanese subjects had significantly the lowest mean score. As for death depression in males, Kuwaitis attained the highest mean score, while the Lebanese had the lowest. In females, Egyptians and Kuwaitis had the highest mean death depression scores, while the Lebanese attained the lowest. Regarding the trait anxiety, female Egyptians had the highest mean score, while the Lebanese attained the lowest. The differences between the mean scores of the three nations in the Beck Depression Inventory were not statistically significant. By and large, the gender differences were significant denoting the higher mean scores of females than their male counterparts.