Objective indicators (personal and work characteristics) and subjective assessments (feelings of deprivation and death anxiety) were examined in relation to depressive symptoms among 163 funeral directors. The findings from a multivariate analysis supported theorizing about the salience of subjective assessments relative to objective indicators for psychological well-being. Death education, death anxiety, and deprivation were most important in explaining depressive symptoms. Death anxiety and depressive symptoms were independent of the amount of contact with the dead and bereaved.
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