title: Contact with the dead, religion, and death anxiety among older Mexican Americans.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to see if contact with the dead is associated with lower death anxiety among older Mexican Americans. The data come from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans (N = 1,005). The study model specifies that (a) older Mexican Americans who have experienced contact with the dead are more likely to see the connectedness that exists among all people; (b) seeing that all people are one promotes feelings of grateful to God; (c) gratitude toward God is, in turn, associated with lower death anxiety. The findings support each of these relationships.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029, USA. nkrause@umich.edu
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Robert Stemple College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bastida
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology*; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000208:ethnology*; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology