Meaning in the Face of Uncertainty: Spiritual Orientation and Death Anxiety Among Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities

This study aimed to investigate the serial mediating roles of stress and anxiety in the relationship between spiritual orientation and death anxiety among parents of children with developmental disabilities. A total of 361 parents participated in the study. Data were collected using the Spiritual Orientation Scale, the Turkish Death Anxiety Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Regression-based serial mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Version 4.2). The findings indicated that spiritual orientation was negatively associated with stress, anxiety, and death anxiety, whereas stress and anxiety were positively associated with death anxiety. Furthermore, stress and anxiety significantly mediated the relationship between spiritual orientation and death anxiety, both independently and sequentially. These findings suggest that spiritual orientation may function as a protective psychological resource in this population. The proposed model explained a substantial proportion of variance in death anxiety. These findings have implications for psychological support and family intervention programs developed for parents of children with developmental disabilities.