Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Lester.
A revision of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale is presented, eliminating a deviant item that reduced the reliability of the scale. Using a sample of 191 undergraduates, four 7-item subscales were derived with adequate reliabilities and factorial congruence for 2 of the subscales (Fear of Death of Self and Fear of Dying of Self).
Two samples of Kuwaiti (n = 460) and American (n = 273) male and female undergraduates responded to the Death Obsession Scale (DOS) in Arabic and English, respectively. Cronbach's alpha reliability statistics were .96 and .91, respectively, denoting high internal consistency. In the same vein, all the item-remainder correlations in both samples were significant denoting item validity and content validity. A general factor of death obsession was disclosed in the Kuwaiti sample, whereas two salient factors (death rumination, and death dominance and repetition) were extracted in the American sample. Gender-related differences were significant in the Kuwaiti sample, that is, females attained higher mean score than their male counterparts, whereas there were no significant gender differences in the American sample. Kuwaiti students attained significantly higher mean DOS score than their American counterparts in the total and all the individual items of the DOS.
In a sample of 51 near-death experiences, the depth of the reported experience was not related to the years since the experience.
In a sample of 61 psychology students, unity in the subjective structure of the self was associated with having a Taoist orientation.
The seasonality of suicide in Hungary declined from the 1980s to the 1990s, contradicting the recent conclusion of Voracek, et al.
In England and Wales, the suicide rate of murderers was positively associated with the male suicide rate in the general population, and both of these rates were positively associated with the unemployment rate.
Analysis of data from a small sample of suicides in India indicated no sex difference in the heights from which men and women jumped.
English murder rates for the period 1857-1988 were predicted by birth and marriage rates, giving an R2 of .89.
A 6-item scale to assess ontological insecurity showed reasonable reliability and factorial purity in a sample of 193 undergraduates.
The rates and patterns of suicide in the United States and Australia re similar. There are, however, few empirical studies comparing these two countries; indeed, there is a paucity of cross-cultural study in suicidology in general. Suicide notes from both countries were compared, based on Leenaars' multidimensional model of suicide. No major differences were noted as is in keeping with similar studies of suicide notes around the world. It was concluded that the model may be applicable to suicides in both countries; further study is warranted.
In a sample of 72 undergraduates, purchasing books online was predicted by their computer/Internet skills.
Individualism ratings for 27 nations were not associated with suicide or homicide rates after controls for per capita gross domestic product.
In samples of American and Kuwaiti students, scores on an ego-grasping scale were associated with measures of psychopathology, the latter more strongly associated with ego-grasping scores for the American than the Kuwaiti sample.
In a sample of 78 university undergraduates, Macintosh users spent less time online than PC users and had more anxiety about computers.
In a sample of 118 undergraduates, F Scale scores were not associated with neuroticism scores.
A measure of European-ness was not associated with suicide or homicide rates in a sample of 23 European nations in 1970.
In a sample of 264 dogs, the four dimensions of personality identified were friendly, active, obedient, and emotional. The dogs' personalities were associated with weight and purebred versus mixed breed.
In a sample of 503 undergraduates, a newly proposed subscale for the Manic-Depressiveness Scale is more strongly associated with depression scores than with manic scores.