Effectiveness of an Online Religiously-integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based Intervention on Death Anxiety
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Religiously-integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Classical Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Death Anxiety. Basic parameters: 18 years — 65 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Turkey (Türkiye)
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Investigating the Effectiveness of an Online Religiously-integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based Intervention on Death Anxiety
Overview
There has been growing awareness of the importance of death anxiety (DA) in pathological anxiety. DA is defined as a persistent and unreasonable fear of death and thoughts, fears, and emotions associated with the end of life. DA has been suggested as a core fear that underpins the emergence and perseverance of numerous anxiety disorders. However, previous DA-based treatment studies focus on the elderly, the patients, or health professionals who care for the terminally ill. Therefore, there is a need to examine the effect of psychological interventions on DA and current disorder symptoms in a clinical sample through randomized controlled trials. The current study aims to develop a novel Religiously Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RCBT)-based intervention on DA in individuals diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and to compare the effectiveness of RCBT-based intervention with classical CBT-based intervention.
Detailed description
Religion facilitates the pursuit of symbolic immortality by providing individuals with purpose and hope in both life and death. Those who believe in an afterlife also see their world as fairer, which results in lower levels of psychiatric symptoms. Previous CBT-based death anxiety interventions did not consider the assumption of an afterlife. RCBT is an approach that integrates spiritual or religious beliefs into the therapeutic process. RCBT is an approach that recognizes the importance of spirituality or religion in a client's life and aims to use these beliefs and practices positively within the context of evidence-based CBT. Briefly, no intervention studies have investigated the effect of RCBT on DA. This will be the first study to develop an RCBT-based intervention for DA.
Interventions
- Other Religiously-integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This study aims to assess the efficacy and feasibility of a newly developed online intervention for death anxiety based on Religiously Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RCBT). Building upon the framework of Furer and Walker's 2008 intervention protocol, this adaptation incorporates beliefs in an afterlife, aligning with Turkish society's cultural and religious values. The RCBT intervention consists of seven structured group therapy sessions, each lasting 90 minutes. The program is design - Other Classical Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The standard CBT intervention follows the structured protocol developed by Furer and Walker (2008), which targets cognitive distortions, avoidance behaviors, and excessive safety-seeking behaviors contributing to death anxiety. The researcher has adapted the session content to fit the protocol's core components while maintaining fidelity to the original intervention model. Sessions last 90 minutes and are conducted in an online group format. Session Structure: Session 1: Treatment Rationale, Se
Primary outcome measures
- Turkish Death Anxiety Scale (TDAS) [Time frame: Baseline (pretest), Week 7 (posttest), 3-month follow-up]
- Abdel-Khalek's Death Anxiety Scale (ASDA) [Time frame: Baseline (pretest), Week 7 (posttest), 3-month follow-up]
Secondary outcome measures (2)
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) [Time frame: Baseline (pretest), Week 7 (posttest), 3-month follow-up]
- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) [Time frame: Baseline (pretest), Week 7 (posttest), 3-month follow-up]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Aged 18-65
- A score of > 26 on the Turkish Death Anxiety Scale
- Diagnosed with one of the anxiety disorders
- Believing in life after death
Exclusion criteria
- Diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and delusional disorder
- Being in an active manic episode
- Possessing a mental disorder that interferes with completing measures or understanding the exercises conducted during sessions
- Extreme symptoms of depression (score of > 20 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and >1 on the item assessing suicidality)
- Currently receiving therapy.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Double blind
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Turkey (Türkiye) · 1 center
- Ibn Haldun University — Istanbul
Publications
- Saricicek Aydogan A, Gulseren S, Ozturk Sarikaya O, Ozen C. Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of Abdel-Khalek's Death Anxiety Scale among College Students. Noro Psikiyatr Ars. 2015 Dec;52(4):371-375. doi: 10.5152/npa.2015.8820. Epub 2015 Dec 1. PMID 28360742
- Abdel-Khalek AM. A general factor of death distress in seven clinical and non-clinical groups. Death Stud. 2004 Nov;28(9):889-98. doi: 10.1080/07481180490491040. PMID 15493083
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06876103 · 2024/04-14