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Death AnxietyNCT06801132

The Effectiveness of an Online Self-Delivered Death Anxiety Intervention

A study testing Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention and Waiting-List (WL) condition in people with Death Anxiety, run by Peking University at 1 site in China.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effectiveness of the online self-delivered death anxiety intervention developed by our team in the general population with a randomized controlled trial. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 65 years
Conditions the study is for
Death Anxiety
What is being tested?
Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention and Waiting-List (WL) condition
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
47 participants
Where
1 siteChina
Study dates
14 Feb 2025to 4 Apr 2025
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 65 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • 18-65 years of age
  • Normal literacy skills and ability to use a smartphone proficiently
  • Higher death anxiety that is above the cutoff of our measurement
  • Voluntarily participate in this intervention and be able to provide informed consent.

Who cannot join

  • Severe depressive state or risk of suicidal self-injury, i.e., the total score of Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item ≥19 or the score of 9th item ≥2
  • Diagnosed within 6 months with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric disorders
  • Have received any intervention for death anxiety or CBT intervention on any topic within the past 6 months.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

China1 site

  • Peking University

    Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 100871

Other trials in China

About this study

Official title: The Effectiveness of an Online Self-Delivered Death Anxiety Intervention: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effectiveness of the online self-delivered death anxiety intervention developed by our team in the general population with a randomized controlled trial. The study will recruit 50 participants, with 25 randomized to the death anxiety intervention group and 25 randomized to the control group (waiting list). The online intervention on death anxiety consists of 4 phases that take about 2 hours in total. The primary outcome DAS (Death Anxiety Scale) and DABBS (Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale) will be administered on baseline, post-treatment, 1-week follow-up, and 2-week follow-up assessments.

Conditions
Death Anxiety
Being tested
Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention, Waiting-List (WL) condition
Keywords
Death Anxiety, randomized controlled trial, self-delivered
Medical subject headings
Necrophobia

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Online self-delivered death anxiety interventionBehavioural

    The online self-guided death anxiety intervention developed in this study is based on the Death Education and CBT framework. It took approximately two hours to complete the full intervention. The main content includes:

    1. Emotional reactions and behavioral manifestations about death, fear management theories, and Chinese cultural attitudes toward death;
    2. Imagine what you would like to say to yourself at the end of your life, and learn about various attitudes towards death through numerous examples;
    3. Expressive writing, with moderate emotional exposure to stimulate reflection, accompanied by breathing exercises and positive thinking about death, to improve tolerance and control of death anxiety, and finally to correct biased perceptions by examining bad beliefs about death;
    4. Prioritize the importance of things and make a practical action plan to enrich your life.

  • Waiting-List (WL) conditionBehavioural

    Participants assigned to WL will be asked not to use our death anxiety intervention or seek additional help related to death anxiety during the 1-week intervention period. After the one-month follow-up of the experimental group, the WL group will receive the same intervention for death anxiety. WL participants will also be given contact information to use in case of increasing distress.

Study groups in NCT06801132
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Death anxietyExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention
Waiting-List (WL) conditionOtherParticipants assigned to WL will be asked not to use our death anxiety intervention or seek additional help related to death anxiety during the 1-week intervention period. After the one-month follow-up of the experimental group, the WL group will receive the same intervention for death anxiety. WL participants will also be given contact information to use in case of increasing distress.
Receives: Behavioral: Waiting-List (WL) condition

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Templer Death Anxiety Scale (T-DAS)

    The T-DAS consists of 15 items, describing the experiences that individuals feel when facing death. The Chinese version suggests a 5-point scale according to the later extended version of the scale, ranging from 1 "Strongly Agree" to 5 "Strongly Disagree", with higher scores representing more severe death anxiety. The higher the score, the more serious the death anxiety, and a total score greater than 43 according to the rules can be considered to have a high level of death anxiety. The Chinese version of T-DAS has been widely used and has shown good reliability and validity.

    Measured: baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

  2. Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale (DABBS)

    The DABBS consists of 18 entries describing overall feelings about death (4 entries), thoughts and beliefs related to death (7 entries), and avoidance behaviors related to death (7 entries), with the scale being scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1, "Strongly Disagree/Never Have This Thought/Never Avoid This Behavior" to 5 "Strongly agree/always have this thought/always avoid this behavior," with higher scores representing the severity of the individual's adverse beliefs and behaviors regarding death.

    Measured: baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

Secondary outcomes (5)

  1. Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item

    Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9), a self-report measure for depressive symptoms in the past two weeks, comprises 9 items rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). The PHQ-9 has good psychometric properties in Chinese adolescents.

    Measured: baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

  2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item

    Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale is a 7-item self-report measure to assess anxiety symptoms in the past two weeks. Each item is rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). The Chinese version GAD-7 score has good psychometric properties among adolescents.

    Measured: baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

  3. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)

    The ISI consists of seven items that assess the severity of subjective insomnia in the past two weeks, including, for example, difficulty in falling asleep, sleep satisfaction, impairment of daytime functioning, etc. The total score ranges from 0-28, with higher scores representing more severe insomnia. The Chinese version of ISI has been shown to have good reliability and validity.

    Measured: baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

  4. 4-dimensional anxiety scale

    This is a 40-item scale for measuring multi-dimensional anxiety, which includes 4 dimensions (emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral) and 9 subscales (emotional, psychosomatic, autonomic, general cognitive, phobia, over-committed, repetitive, social, and avoidance). The higher the score on this scale, the more severe the anxiety in a certain area.

    Measured: baseline, 1 week, 2 weeks

  5. Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale (PWS)

    The short version used in this study contains 18 entries, including six dimensions of positive relations, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The six dimensions of self-acceptance are scored on a 6-point scale ranging from 1 "not at all" to 6 "very much", with higher scores representing higher psychological well-being. The Chinese version of PWS has been translated by Taiwanese scholars and has been proven to have Good reliability and validity.

    Measured: baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted30 Jan 2025
  2. Study start14 Feb 2025
  3. Primary completion4 Apr 2025
  4. Study completion4 Apr 2025

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Investigator
Enrolment
47 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06801132
Sponsor's protocol ID
Facing death anxiety pilot
Status last verified
Apr 2025
First submitted
24 Jan 2025
Last updated
16 Mar 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Online self-delivered death anxiety intervention and Waiting-List (WL) condition in people with Death Anxiety, run by Peking University at 1 site in China.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 16 Mar 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Templer Death Anxiety Scale (T-DAS) (time frame: baseline, post treatment (only for intervention group), 1 week, 2 weeks). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06801132.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 16 Mar 2026.

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