Background & objectives: One of the important areas of health of the elderly persons is its psychological aspect that requires special attention and prevention of disorders such as anxiety in them. Death anxiety as an abnormal fear of his death undermines effective compatibility. This study aimed to investigate the role of cognitive fusion, locus of control and cognitive avoidance in the prediction of death anxiety in the elderly.

Method: The conducting method was a descriptive and correlative study. The statistical population of this study included all the male elderly over-60 years old of Ardabil in 2016, which 108 persons of them were selected as the study sample using the convenience sampling. For data collection, the cognitive fusion scale (CFQ), locus of control scale (RLOC), cognitive avoidance scale (CAQ) and death anxiety scale (DAS) were used. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests in SPSS 21 statistical software.

Findings: The study results showed a significant positive relationship between cognitive fusion and death anxiety (r=0.41, p<0.05) and a significant negative relationship between locus of control and death anxiety (r=-0.46, p<0.05). Additionally, a significant positive relationship existed between cognitive avoidance and death anxiety (r=0.42, p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that cognitive fusion 0.31, locus of control -0.36 and cognitive avoidance 0.30 significantly predict death anxiety of the elderly persons (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Thus, it can be concluded that cognitive fusion, locus of control and cognitive avoidance are considered the predicting variables related to death anxiety.