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Background: Calls to action addressing the interconnections between physical (in)activity and the climate crisis are increasing. The current study aimed to investigate public support for policy actions that potentially have co-benefits for physical activity promotion and climate change mitigation. Methods: In 2023, a survey through the Angus Reid Forum was completed by 2507 adults living in Canada. Binary logistic regressions were conducted. Separate models were created to reflect support or opposition to the 8 included policy items. Several covariates were included in the models including age, gender, political orientation, physical activity levels, income, urbanicity climate anxiety, and attitudes surrounding physical activity and climate change. The data were weighted to reflect the gender, age, and regional composition of the country. Results: Most individuals living in Canada strongly or moderately supported all actions (ranging from 71% to 85%). Meeting the physical activity guidelines, higher self-reported income, and scoring high on personal experience of climate change were associated with higher odds of supporting the policy actions related to climate actions. Conclusions: Most adults living in Canada support policies that align with the recommended policy actions related to physical activity and climate change. National campaigns enhancing awareness and understanding of the bidirectional relationship between physical activity and climate change are warranted, and these should consider the consistent demographic differences (eg, gender, age, and political orientation) seen in public support for physical activity-related policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In "Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety," Britt Wray explores the importance of language in understanding and sharing the emotions caused by the climate crisis. She emphasizes the need for validation and community in coping with these feelings and taking action. Wray also discusses the differences between existential dread from nuclear threats and climate threats, highlighting the importance of care and courage in facing these realities. The text emphasizes the need to reframe the concept of control, recognize interconnectedness, and listen to non-dominant cultures and indigenous communities. It suggests engaging in truth and reconciliation processes and creating spaces for compassionate conversations to shift towards climate solutions. The text provides resources for accessing support groups and therapy networks for those experiencing climate anxiety and encourages open-minded conversations for those less engaged. [Extracted from the article]

As youth psychological distress grows regarding climate change, educators are in an important position to provide support. In working with youth, educators are tasked with balancing the psychological distress associated with climate change knowledge against the ability to educate for positive outcomes such as hope, agency, and action. This theoretical essay pulls from philosophical and social psychological literature to make the case that educators have an intergenerational obligation to educate youth on climate change and that solidarity between educators and students represents a fruitful path forward. Solidarity in climate change education may help youth better manage their climate anxiety and channel this emotion into action. Solidarity expands upon current climate change teaching efforts by advocating for meaningful dialogue between students and educators, grounding action in the unique social‐ecological systems within which the learning process is occurring, and fostering realistic hope and agency within students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and young people today are growing up in an increasingly urban, technical, virtual and ecologically precarious world, leaving many feel disconnected from nature yet anxious about its degradation at the same time. Two distinct bodies of knowledge – namely youth human-nature relationships and youth eco-anxiety – are concerned with the former and the latter respectively. Through a narrative literature review, we bring these fields together and explore their interaction. We demonstrate that the dominant responses of facilitating nature exposure and encouraging environmental action risk counteracting each other and ultimately fail to address the root cause of children and young people's experiences. We further show that emerging responses in both fields are overcoming these limitations by turning towards a reimagination of humanity's relationship with nature, providing a holistic way forward. We conclude by discussing barriers restricting the expansion of such approaches and opportunities for future research to contribute to dismantling these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of "planetary health" and its potential to change our understanding of global challenges. It criticizes the rise of "climate security" as a dominant framework, which prioritizes militarization and national security over the health of the planet and its inhabitants. The article argues that a planetary health approach, rooted in eco-social justice, can challenge militarized conceptions of global challenges and promote non-military action and systemic change. It highlights examples of ecosystemic care practices, such as eco-sumud, buen vivir, and mutual aid, as alternatives to militarized approaches. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for policy and action that prioritize the interconnectedness of security, health, and justice. [Extracted from the article]

Considering the dual objectives of financial climate policies (such as carbon tax) -mitigating climate change and supporting economic growth, our paper aims to discover the unique process of increasing support for financial climate policies, which was a lack of attention before. Building on the structural equation modelling analysis of a nationwide longitudinal survey including 2322 valid samples in China, this research finds the positive influence of climate anxiety and economic anticipation on the support for financial climate policies, driven by the enhancement of perceived win-win benefits of policies. The findings provide researchers with a new perspective in understanding public support for financial climate policies and the psychological process underneath. Policy-makers could benefit from the findings by strategically managing the climate anxiety and economic anticipation of the public and raising public awareness of personal benefits beyond climate benefits when implementing financial climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Design Methods Results Conclusions The United Nations recognize the importance of balancing the needs of people and the planetary systems on which human health relies. This paper investigates the role that climate change has on human health via its influence on climate anxiety.We conducted an intensive longitudinal study.Participants reported levels of climate anxiety, generalized anxiety and an array of health behaviours at 20 consecutive time points, 2 weeks apart.A network analysis shows climate anxiety and generalized anxiety not to covary, and higher levels of climate anxiety not to covary with health behaviours, except for higher levels of alcohol consumption at the within‐participant level. Generalized anxiety showed completely distinct patterns of covariation with health behaviours compared with climate anxiety.Our findings imply that climate anxiety, as conceptualized and measured in the current study, is not in itself functionally impairing in terms of associations with unhealthy behaviours, and is distinct from generalized anxiety. The results also imply that interventions to induce anxiety about the climate might not always have significant impacts on health and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acknowledging the increasing worry over climate change and its psychological effects, the aim of this research is to clarify the dynamics between religiosity, climate anxiety and death anxiety, seeking to figure out the way religiosity mitigates the psychological effects of existential anxieties and climate related anxiety. Methods: Using Google Forms, a questionnaire was developed and disseminated through a variety of messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger. Through a snowball sampling technique, 763 participants were recruited in this cross-sectional during September 2023. Results: The subsequent variables were adjusted in the moderation analysis: age, gender, and place of living. The results suggested that religiosity levels moderated the association between climate anxiety and death anxiety (Beta = 0.02, t = 1.97, p =.05, 95% CI 0.001, 0.035). At low, moderate, and high levels of religiosity, higher climate anxiety was significantly associated with more death anxiety. In addition, at low levels of climate anxiety, individuals with higher levels of religiosity (22.66) had more decreased levels of death anxiety compared to those with lower levels of religiosity (11.99). As climate anxiety levels increase, inverted patterns can be observed, with highly religious individuals showing higher levels of death anxiety than those with lower levels of religiosity. Overall, the relationship between climate anxiety and death anxiety was found to be weakest at low levels of religiosity and strongest at high levels of religiosity. Conclusion: Our findings suggest a possible beneficial effect of high religiosity at low levels of climate anxiety. This effect is reversed as climate anxiety starts to increase. Therefore, clinicians and policy-makers should bear in mind these complex interactions when designing strategies to mitigate mental health problems in the context of climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the greatest global threats that has ecological, economic, social, and psychological consequences. Nowadays, young people are the target of political agenda since they represent potential future policymakers. Consequently, it is crucial to identify the psychological features that contribute to engagement of young people in climate change issue. This study aimed at identifying and describing different configurations of youth perceiving and experiencing climate change. A sample of 224 participants (61% females; Mage = 21.04, SD = 1.65) were involved in study. From a cluster analysis emerged three distinct profiles, Eco-Disengaged, Eco-Engaged/Oriented and Eco-Engaged/Disoriented, which differ in levels of climate change awareness, worry and anxiety. Findings suggest that institutions might develop green education programs based on young people's individual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionWhile the impact of climate change on mental health, especially in young people, has been acknowledged, underlying mechanisms of this relation remain elusive. Based on research on active coping, we explored effects of agency on anxiety and coping in an experimental design. We further examined the relation between mental health (i.e., psychopathology, depressiveness, trait anxiety), trait factors (i.e., climate distress, intolerance of uncertainty, trait coping), state anxiety and coping with climate distress.244 participants (15-25 years) watched a climate anxiety inducing video, followed by an agency manipulation (high agency vs. low agency vs. control). Trait mental health, intolerance of uncertainty, and climate distress and coping were examined as predictors of state anxiety and coping.State anxiety decreased in the high agency and control conditions, but not in the low agency condition. High agency led to increased meaning-focused coping and low agency to decreased meaning– and problem-focused coping. Trait mental health, problem-focused, and meaning-focused coping strategies each predicted their respective state counterparts. Emotion-focused coping was further predicted by all trait measures.The findings suggest a risk of low agency communication due to the lack of arousal decrease and lack of using functional coping in young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on climate anxiety is rapidly growing, with ongoing exploration of population prevalence, contributing factors, and mitigation strategies that transform anxiety into helpful action. What remains unclear is whether and how to delineate climate anxiety from mental ill health. A limited conceptualization of climate anxiety restricts efforts to identify and support those adversely affected. This paper draws on psychological and existential theories to propose a theoretical model of climate anxiety and coping, extending previous conceptualizations. The model theorizes that climate change evokes an existential conflict that manifests affectively as climate anxiety (and other emotional experiences), wherein cognitive and behavioral coping processes are activated. These processes fall on a continuum of adaptivity, depending on functional impact. Responses might range from meaningful engagement with activities that address climate change to maladaptive strategies that negatively impact personal, social, and occupational functioning. Applications of this model in research and practice are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/objective Background Design Methods Results Conclusions This study examined the relationship between climate change anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and future anxiety levels of nursing students.The effects of climate change, an important global problem, on people's emotional and intellectual states are becoming increasingly important. It is important to understand to what extent prospective health professionals, such as nursing students, are affected by such environmental concerns and the possible impact of this level on their professional behaviors to develop an environmentally focused approach to health services.This study was conducted using a descriptive and correlational design.Students enrolled in the Nursing Undergraduate Program of a university in Turkey in the 2023–2024 academic year participated in the study. The participants were administered a personal information form, climate change anxiety scale, intolerance of uncertainty scale, and future anxiety scale in university students. The data were evaluated using advanced statistical analyses, and relationships were examined.As a result of these analyses, it was determined that there was a significant relationship between future anxiety and climate change anxiety in university students (R = 0.234, p = .000). In addition, there was a substantial relationship between climate change anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty (R = 0.562, p = .000).These findings indicate significant and linear relationships between nursing students' emotional and cognitive states associated with environmental factors such as climate change, uncertainty, and future anxiety. Developing support and interventions in nursing education is crucial to help students cope with these issues and function more effectively in their future professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the process of feeling climate injustice. It aims to situate climate distress as an issue of justice, in order to generate more politically accountable and empowering responses. It firstly situates climate anxiety, solastalgia and climate disaster trauma as symptoms of affective climate violence, where harm that could have been prevented was instead consciously and systematically exacerbated by fossil fuelled political regimes. It articulates witnessing as a practice of affective climate justice, an approach that would recognise climate distress as violence, and offer support, apology and redress for this violence, including through seeking to prevent future climate change. However, the second section outlines how, in perverse efforts to maintain fossil fuel interests, climate distress is often further amplified through practices of greenhouse gaslighting – denying, deriding and dismissing people's experiences of harm. Greenhouse gaslighting is outlined as a patriarchal practice of emotional abuse that is enabled by and seeks to perpetuate white-colonial-extractivism. Thirdly, the paper argues that even within progressive circles, current efforts to witness climate distress potentially fail to enact affective climate justice due to discourses that centre whiteness and privilege, rather than recognising and responding to the different and unequal forms of affective climate violence experienced by diverse peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article examines the relationship between individuals' pro-environmental behaviors and their subjective wellbeing. Through a meta-analysis of existing research, the authors find strong evidence supporting a positive association between engaging in pro-environmental behaviors and experiencing subjective wellbeing. This information is valuable for library patrons interested in understanding the personal benefits of taking environmentally friendly actions. [Extracted from the article]

The aim of the present research is to investigate the associations between the level of eco-anxiety and other variables such as environmental affect traits, connectedness to nature, depression, anxiety and media exposure. Participants attending climate awareness workshops were provided with a link to an online survey. A total of 522 French-speaking adults completed all questionnaires aimed at measuring various factors related to eco-anxiety. Multiple linear regressions and network analysis were conducted to examine correlations, assess the respective contributions of each factor, and explore potential interactions among them. While all environmental affects were associated with eco-anxiety, only negative affects were significant explaining variables. The level of media exposure was strongly associated with a higher level of eco-anxiety, as was the degree of connectedness to nature. Among the group of most eco-anxious people, while the average level of anxiety is high, a large majority of them paradoxically have zero to mild levels of anxiety in general. Finally, being female, not having children and having a high level of education predisposed to a higher level of eco-anxiety. This study is the first to our knowledge to investigate the link between several factors that influence eco-anxiety. The results suggest that two types of eco-anxious profiles can be distinguished, depending on their baseline level of anxiety. When eco-anxiety is added to an anxiety base, it may increase psychopathological manifestations in the individual. This hypothesis merits further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Arab world is one of the global regions the most directly concerned by, and suffering from climate change's adverse consequences. As such, there appears to be a strong need for an understanding of how Arab people may emotionally respond to climate change. Providing valid and reliable measures of climate change anxiety (CCA) can help gain a clear overview of the situation in Arab countries, and allow to intervene timely and effectively to mitigate any adverse effects on Arab people's mental health. To this end, the present study sought to validate the Arabic language version of the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS) in a sample of native Arabic-speaking adults from the general population of Lebanon. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional approach and enrolled 763 adults between July and September 2023. Results: A confirmatory analysis of the one-factor model showed poor fit indices as follows: CFI = 0.90, GFI = 0.83, SRMR = 0.048 and RMSEA 0.131 [90% CI 0.123, 0.138). The two-factor model showed a satisfactory fit with a high CFI of and a GFI of 0.91 and a SRMR of 0.04 and RMSEA of 0.05 [90% CI 0.04, 0.06]. Both McDonald's omega and Cronbach alpha values were high for the overall CCAS score (α = 0.96 and ω = 0.96) in the whole sample. Configural, metric and scalar invariance across gender was demonstrated. No significant difference was found between males and females in terms of total CCAS scores (24.53 ± 10.59 vs. 26.03 ± 11.17, t(761) = -1.82, p =.069). Higher CCA, functional impairment and cognitive impairment scores were significantly associated with higher depression, anxiety and stress. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of the CCAS in its Arabic version were proven. The availability of this self-report measure could offer a chance to assess CCA among Adults speaking Arabic, and to spread its future use for screening and research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate anxiety is increasing among students in higher education. In this mixed-method study, we map attitudes toward climate anxiety of students from sustainability related study fields. We analyze case study results from three universities in Europe (Helsinki, Warsaw, and Uppsala), querying: students' needs in coping with climate anxiety in academia and ways university operations can be improved to meet those needs. Results from a cross sectional survey (N = 157) place climate anxiety within a range of emotions, from sadness to hope. The majority of respondents reported a mixture of empowering and paralyzing emotional states. Respondents to semi-structured interviews advise academia to rethink its time economies, prioritize transformative climate action, acknowledge students' emotion work around sustainability issues, make climate education more humanistic, and include more-than-human-nature in educational spaces. Educators could employ transformative learning approaches to redefine climate anxiety from paralyzing emotion into constructive learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Pacific region stands at the forefront of climate change related impacts, we need to hear from those most affected especially in terms of the mental health and wellbeing impacts for our Pacific communities. This exploratory study is led and carried out by Pacific and Indigenous researchers with Pacific peoples and seeks to place Pacific voices front and centre of its practice and analysis. This multi-country study was undertaken with Pacific experts and knowledge holders in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Niuē. This paper foregrounds Pacific perspectives, and considers how western concepts, such as eco- and climate anxiety, can be best applied to understand the mental distress of climate change for Pacific peoples. We demonstrate that there is a deep interconnection between climate change and mental health and wellbeing, and the impacts of this link has been cultural nuanced and defined by and for Pacific peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate anxiety refers to pervasive worry and apprehension about climate change. Scholars have stressed that climate anxiety is a normal and healthy response to climate change that can motivate climate action and should therefore not be medicalized. This article considers the inadvertent consequences associated with not treating climate anxiety as a mental health problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the nature and prevalence of phenomena like climate anxiety (or eco-anxiety) is increasing rapidly but there is little understanding of the conditions under which climate change worry becomes more or less likely to significantly impact mental wellbeing. Here, we considered two plausible moderators of the relationship between climate change worry and mental wellbeing: neuroticism and efficacy beliefs. Analysis was conducted with survey data gathered in six European countries in autumn 2019. Participants were recruited from universities in the participating countries using opportunity sampling. We found that climate change worry is negatively related to mental wellbeing at any level of perceived efficacy. In contrast, climate change worry is only significantly related to mental wellbeing at low and average levels of neuroticism. High neuroticism appears to have a masking, rather than amplifying, role in the relationship between climate change worry and mental wellbeing. The cross-sectional design of the study precludes verification of causal relationships among variables. The brief measure of neuroticism employed also did not allow for nuanced analysis of how different facets of neuroticism contribute to the observed interaction with climate change worry. Findings cannot be indiscriminately generalised to less privileged groups facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Our findings lend to a view that harmful impacts of climate change worry on mental wellbeing cannot simply be ascribed to dispositional traits like neuroticism. We advocate for interventions that tackle negative climate-related emotions as unique psychological stressors. • We examined whether neuroticism and efficacy beliefs interact with climate worry. • Efficacy beliefs did not moderate climate worry – mental wellbeing relationship. • Climate worry and mental wellbeing only significantly linked at low neuroticism. • High neuroticism has a masking role in climate worry – mental wellbeing link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Eco-anxiety is increasingly recognized as a shared experience by many people internationally, encompassing fear of environmental catastrophe and anxiety about ecological crises. Despite its importance in the context of the changing climate, measures for this construct are still being developed in languages other than English. Methods To contribute to global eco-anxiety research, we translated the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS) into Spanish, creating the HEAS-SP. We validated this measure in samples from both Argentina (n = 990) and Spain (n = 548), performing measurement invariance and confirmatory factor analyses. Internal consistency of the scale and score stability over time were investigated through reliability analyses. Differences in eco-anxiety across sociodemographic variables were explored through Student’s t-tests and Pearson’s r tests. Results The four-factor model of the HEAS-SP comprising affective and behavioural symptoms, rumination, and anxiety about personal impact demonstrated excellent model fit. We found good internal consistency for each subscale, and established measurement invariance between Spanish and Argentine samples, as well as across genders and participants’ age. Spanish participants reported higher scores on the affective symptoms and personal impact anxiety factors compared to the Argentinian sample. Also, men reported lower levels than women on the subscales of affective symptoms, rumination, and personal impact anxiety. It was found that the relationship between both age and personal impact anxiety and age and affective symptoms varies significantly depending on the gender of the individuals. Younger participants tended to report higher scores on most dimensions of eco-anxiety. Conclusions These findings enhance the global initiative to investigate, explore and therefore comprehend eco-anxiety by introducing the first valid and reliable Spanish-language version of this psychometric instrument for its use within Spanish and Argentinian populations. This study augments the body of evidence supporting the robust psychometric properties of the HEAS, as demonstrated in prior validations for Australian, Turkish, Portuguese, German, French, and Italian populations.

Background Methods Results Conclusions Climate anxiety is increasingly prevalent among adolescents worldwide. Are climate‐anxious adolescents prone to engage in pro‐environmental behavior? Or might the association between climate anxiety and pro‐environmental be curvilinear, such that high levels of climate anxiety become ‘paralyzing’? And do these associations depend on whether adolescents believe that, with effort, the worst impacts of climate change can still be prevented?We addressed these questions in three studies (two preregistered; combined N = 2,211), conducted across two countries. We used cross‐sectional and longitudinal methods, and various measures of climate anxiety and pro‐environmental behavior. We performed Bayesian regression analyses comparing two models that tested competing hypotheses. The first model included a linear effect of climate anxiety on pro‐environmental behavior, and the second model included both a linear and a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U‐shaped) effect of climate anxiety on pro‐environmental behavior. Next, we added environmental efficacy to the best fitting model and explored its moderating effects.Adolescents reported low‐to‐moderate levels of climate anxiety. Across the board, we found evidence for a small, positive, and mostly linear (rather than curvilinear) association between climate anxiety and pro‐environmental behavior. While Study 1 supported a curvilinear association (Bayes Factor (BF) = 18.87), Studies 2 and 3 mostly supported a linear model (BFs range 6.86–12.71), except for weak support (BF = 1.62) for a curvilinear association between climate anxiety symptoms and public sphere pro‐environmental behavior. Adolescents' environmental efficacy moderated this link for public sphere (e.g. activism), but not private sphere (e.g. recycling), pro‐environmental behavior.Climate‐anxious adolescents are prone to engage in pro‐environmental behavior. We found limited evidence for ‘eco‐paralysis’ (i.e. a passive state of pro‐environmental behavioral stasis) at high levels of climate anxiety. Our results are consistent with the possibility that supporting adolescents' environmental efficacy will help climate‐anxious adolescents engage in public sphere pro‐environmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of climate change on children's mental health, specifically focusing on the increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression in children exposed to climate-related disasters. It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to climate change education that includes mental health considerations and addresses social inequalities. The article suggests actions such as empowering education, bridging the gap in climate change education, building resilience, investing in accessible mental health care, and fostering open communication about climate change with children. It also highlights the role of communities, schools, and environmental organizations in supporting children's mental health and fostering a sense of connection to nature. By involving children in environmental projects and giving them a voice, schools and communities can help them feel empowered and hopeful, ultimately benefiting their mental well-being and contributing to a brighter future for the planet. [Extracted from the article]

Climate change anxiety among young people of college age has become a prevalent topic, with debate on whether climate change anxiety is maladaptive or can motivate climate change action. Using a cross-sectional survey of 440 college students, the study investigated the relationships between college students' climate anxiety, climate change media exposure, efficacy beliefs, and pro-environmental intentions. The findings revealed among other things, that climate anxiety had a significant curvilinear relationship with pro-environmental intentions with moderate anxiety predicting positive intentions and higher levels of anxiety were associated with negative intentions. Media exposure also positively predicted increased climate anxiety. Implications for climate change mitigation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between women's menstrual hygiene product use and their level of concern around climate change as well as to identify the variables influencing this relationship. Methods: In all, 978 women between the ages of 18 and 49 who were of reproductive age participated in this descriptive cross‐sectional study. The CHERRIES criteria were followed in conducting the online survey. Data were gathered using the "personal information form" and the Climate Change Anxiety Scale for Women's Health The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression, and logistic regression. Results: Women were more prone to using throwaway goods than eco‐friendly, sanitary goods when their climate change worry level was lower. Age, education level, region of residence, and the intensity of menstrual bleeding have an impact on the hygiene products used during the menstrual cycle, whereas environmental pollution in the area of residence and a woman's allergy status have an impact on the level of climate change anxiety concerning a woman's health. Conclusion: Women who are worried about how climate change will affect their health prefer to purchase sustainable/eco‐friendly items. Starting in adolescence, women can receive advice about the use of sustainable products from health experts who are primarily responsible for women's health. Synopsis: Women who are concerned about the effects of climate change on women's health prefer eco‐friendly feminine hygiene products during their menstrual periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people around the world are creating their own spaces, strategies, and politics for climate action. In this article we explore the everyday informal politics of climate activism by youth from Aotearoa New Zealand's largest city (Auckland). We examine how young people, frustrated by the lack of global and domestic political inertia, are operationalizing their concerns about climate change into actions in their daily lives directed at mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions. Through a relational qualitative approach, we document the contradictory standing of youth, specifically as agentic actors and environmental citizens, who are aware of and seeking climate action through multiple modes of action including protesting, eco-consuming, influencing others, and eco-caring work. Our youth participants reported how their participation in various forms of climate activism helped to reduce their eco-anxiety and made them more hopeful about their collective abilities to address climate change. Our participants highlighted a hopeful view that their small-scale individual actions will collectively add up to large-scale changes at a systemic level. However, they were highly aware of and critical of state and corporate actors attempts to shift responsibility for taking actions to mitigate climate change onto individuals. Rather than situating themselves solely as eco-consumers engaging in eco-friendly purchasing practices, our youth participants narrated their sometimes contradictory climate actions (protesting, buy-cotting or boycotting, changing how they used goods, and services) as acts of resistance against the socio-economic status quo (high-carbon, neoliberal, and capitalist) that could act as trigger points for wider change. In this article we identify the various methods by which young people are participating in daily climate politics and demonstrating their agency, which are evident in their diverse pro-environmental-oriented and climate mitigation actions; all of which is evidence of how youth are seeking to be good climate citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides insights on the ways that youth express and process the emotions arising from their involvement in climate action. The specific objectives were to: (1) understand the ways youth come to know, conceptualize and reflect on climate change, (2) explore how youth’s emotions in response to climate change impacts their everyday lives; and (3) determine the modalities in which youth are expressing and processing such emotions. We used a grounded theory approach and the photovoice interview method to elicit participant’s views on climate-change-related emotions and interviews were analysed using qualitative data analysis software according to a grounded theory approach. The study resulted in identifying key themes, as well as supports for youth experiencing difficult emotions associated with climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the biggest environmental and equality challenges of our time, climate change is causing some people to experience climate anxiety. To address the need for valid and reliable measurement of this construct, we adapted the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale to measure climate anxiety in the United Kingdom (n = 501) and United States (n = 508). In both samples, we found the Hogg Climate Anxiety Scale (HCAS) was comprised of four dimensions: affective symptoms, behavioural symptoms, ruminative thoughts, and anxiety about one’s personal impact. The four-factor HCAS fit the data well, showed measurement invariance in these two samples, and all dimensions were internally consistent. Importantly, we also provide evidence for convergent validity by demonstrating that HCAS scores were positively correlated with an alternative measure of eco-anxiety and a more general indicator of worry in one’s daily life. The dimensions of the HCAS also showed distinct associations with theoretically related constructs, for example only personal impact anxiety and rumination were significant predictors of taking collective action on climate change, and personal impact anxiety was distinctly predictive of climate inequality beliefs. We recommend the HCAS as a brief (13 item) measurement tool to capture experiences of climate anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing valid and reliable measures of psychological responses to climate change is of high importance, as this facilitates our understanding of people's psychological responses, including their pro-environmental behavior. Recently, the Climate Change Worry Scale (CCWS) was introduced. This study aimed to develop the first Polish version of the CCWS and explore its psychometric properties. Our sample comprised 420 Polish adults aged 18–70, with a mean age of 26.20 (standard deviation = 10.61) years. The CCWS's factor structure was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were computed to assess internal consistency reliability. Pearson correlations between climate change worry (CCW) and experience of climate change (i.e., an individual's level of perception of being affected by climate change), pro-environmental behavior, ill-being (i.e., anxiety and depression symptoms), and well-being were calculated. Our results support the strong factorial validity of the CCWS, conforming to its intended one-factor solution, with excellent internal consistency reliability for the total scale score (i.e., McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha values of 0.93). We noted large positive correlations between CCW and experiences of climate change, as well as pro-environmental behavior, and medium positive correlations with psychopathology symptoms. CCW scores were not associated with well-being. As the CCWS represents a measure of a specific manifestation of worry, we also examined its discriminant validity against more general psychological distress markers, and it evidenced strong validity in this regard. Overall, the Polish version of the CCWS appears to have strong psychometric properties, and will therefore be a useful tool to use in research on psychological responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Methods Results Conclusions In Australia, climate‐related disasters disproportionately affect rural, regional and remote young people with effects ranging from severe flooding and catastrophic fires to unbearable heat and yet most studies on eco‐anxiety are based on reports by urban youth who do not have direct experiences of such impacts. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research on how eco‐anxiety impacts those who already experience mental health problems. The present study aims to address this gap by focussing on the lived experiences of regional Australian youth with recent experience of climate‐related disasters alongside clinical insights from those involved in their care.Two groups, a clinician and client group, were recruited through headspace Port Macquarie—a primary youth mental health service in a regional city of New South Wales, Australia. In all, 25 participants took part in focus group discussions, including 13 clinicians and 12 clients of the service. Clients and clinicians responded to a version of the same questions: (1) whether the effects of climate change impact on regional youth with mental health problems, (2) how young people cope with eco‐anxiety and (3) how regional communities can help young people cope with eco‐anxiety better. Group discussions were audio‐recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analysed according to the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis using a team approach.Three dimensions of eco‐anxiety were identified by clinicians and clients—helplessness in the present, hopelessness about the future and acute stress and anxiety related to experiences of severe flooding and fires. Clinicians and clients also thought that a misalignment between young people and older generations, including government, was a source of eco‐anxiety and having a collective voice was seen as important for regional youth as was community support through social media sites. Clinicians thought that eco‐anxiety was ‘in the background’ for their clients, whereas the clients who participated were clearly experiencing eco‐anxiety. Whereas clinicians could identify potential coping strategies, clients could not.Eco‐anxiety can be experienced by regional youth with mental health problems as both an acute response to natural hazards and a more sustained sense of hopelessness about the future. Impacts of acute anxiety and chronic hopelessness, with its associated depression risk, among young people with pre‐existing mental health problems warrants further investigation as this study suggests that it may exacerbate their existing conditions. Clinicians and clients in this region would benefit from specific training and resources related to the identification and treatment of eco‐anxiety. Future research on climate‐related mental health should be inclusive of the perspectives of those who have direct experience of climate‐related adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate doomism is an increasing concern for climate change communication. In the United States, this opinion regarding anthropogenic climate change is now more prevalent than climate skepticism, and is the primary reason cited for opposition to climate action. Doomism is the belief that catastrophic warming of the planet is now inevitable, and that effective mitigation is impossible. The behaviors resulting from this view are comparable to the result of climate skepticism: doomism produces paralyzing eco-anxiety and subsequently inaction. Prior work has hypothesized that the rise in climate doomism and eco-anxiety is linked to climate change risk communication. This study investigates the possibility that the metaphoric language used to communicate the severity and urgency of climate change could inadvertently promote doomism. We employ a survey model to test the influence of metaphoric language on perception of urgency, feasibility, and individual agency in relation to the climate crisis. American English-speaking participants (N = 1,542) read a paragraph describing climate change either as a "cliff edge" or "minefield," with human agency manipulated to be present or absent. Responses were considered to be doomist if they reported a high sense of urgency, paired with a low sense of feasibility and/or agency; this indicates they have a high awareness of the risks associated with the climate crisis, but a low belief that it will be addressed, and/or that their actions can produce meaningful change. Use of either metaphor improved perceived feasibility without a reduction in urgency, indicating that metaphor is an effective climate communication strategy for conveying risk without promoting doomism. However, metaphoric presentation is only effective when paired with human agency, suggesting that agency is a necessary component for successful metaphoric climate communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusion In the context of global warming, new terms emerged in the global media and in the psychology field to embody the negative feelings which come along with climate change such as ‘eco‐anxiety’ or ‘solastalgia’. The pathological character of these emotions is denied although medical opinion is often required for helping people to handle them. Also, no proper medical framework in the field exists to study and care for these patients.In this narrative review, we aim to (1) analyse the concept of eco‐anxiety by focusing on its history and developed concepts, (2) summarize the different scales built to assess eco‐anxiety and (3) propose a new medical framework.We came out with a framework based on the transformation of a physiological adaptative behaviour the ‘eco‐distress’. It is composed of three dimensions: eco‐anger, eco‐grief and eco‐worry, it is not debilitating in daily life and promotes coping strategies such as management of negative emotions and pro‐environmental behaviours (PEB). It can transform itself into a pathological state, the ‘ecolalgia’, composed of two core dimensions: eco‐anxiety and eco‐depression, leading to functional impairment and decrease in PEB. If ecolalgia maintains over 15 days, we propose to consider it as a full psychiatric disorder needing medical advice.This new framework enables a novel approach that is necessary for the improved management of mental health issues related to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a decade-long issue that the world is facing. It has varying negative repercussions, such as an increase in temperature, rising sea levels, flooding, wildfire incidence, and so forth. This research explored how climate change affects the responses of people in terms of anxiety and environmental behavior levels. A quantitative correlation design and purposive sampling are applied in this study as there is a set of criteria to be considered in selecting the respondents. Non-parametric statistics, such as Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test and Spearman's Rho Correlation, are used to analyze the data since there are assumptions that were not met. The findings show that 95 (52.49%) females participated in the study, out of the gathered 181 respondents, suggesting that females are more enlightened about the climatic changes. It also shows a moderate level of climate change anxiety and high level of pro-environmental behavior. Thus, there is no significant difference in the climate change anxiety and proenvironmental behavior levels of males and females, although males scored slightly higher on both scales. A positive correlation is found between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior scores of the respondents. Aside from contributing to the local body of knowledge regarding this topic, this study recommends future researchers, mental health professionals, policymakers, educators, and environmental organizations and volunteers about the causes of climate change anxiety and how they can help the community to behave environmentally in mitigating the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor mental wellbeing is a challenge for societies across the world, as is the increasing threat of climate change, and emerging evidence suggests these challenges are interrelated. Green and social prescribing of non)clinical interventions hold promise as a cost-effective and widely accessible way to improve wellbeing, and interest is growing in whether pro-ecological communal activities have mutual benefits for both people and the planet. Objectives: Communal pro-ecological activities are growing in popularity, and research is gathering pace into whether participation influences mental wellbeing. The present systematic review scopes the existing evidence base to explore what is being done, what is being found, and what additional research is required. Methods: Electronic databases (PsychNET, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for studies that involved groups of people undertaking pro-ecological activities, where components of mental wellbeing were assessed. Eligibility criteria were purposely broad, including all study designs and participants across the lifespan. Results: Thirty-seven eligible studies were identified. Nearly half of the studies used mixed-method designs, and most studies used surveys or interviews to evaluate outcomes. Most pro-ecological activities involved planting vegetation, and habitat creation, maintenance, or restoration. Methodological quality varied considerably. Among the perceived therapeutic mechanisms reported, the social elements of the interventions were prominent. Discussion: Coherent synthesis of the current evidence base is challenging given the heterogeneous range of methods, samples, and interventions within the studies. However, the results here demonstrate promise that with future research and better methodological rigor, pro-ecological group-based interventions hold the potential to improve mental wellbeing and influence sustainable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human well‐being is dependent on the health of our planet. Biodiversity‐related citizen science supports conservation research, and there is increasing interest in its potential as a health co‐benefits intervention. This randomized controlled study investigates the health co‐benefits of biodiversity citizen science participation. Seventy participants were randomly assigned to a citizen science project or control group for an 8‐month period. Both groups completed pre‐ and post‐intervention surveys, evaluating nature relatedness, self‐efficacy related to biodiversity loss, subjective well‐being, and climate change anxiety. A subset (N = 13) of participants engaged in the citizen science project also took part in focus group discussions. The intervention group reported a significant increase in nature relatedness and self‐efficacy to help address issues of biodiversity loss. Although no significant changes were observed for other well‐being or anxiety scales, most participants reported positive outcomes related to mental or physical well‐being in focus groups. There were stronger positive effects for participants without previous environmental volunteering experience. These results suggest that citizen science participation has the potential to contribute to Planetary Health goals, with sustained co‐benefits for well‐being and nature relatedness. Future interventions evaluating co‐benefits should consider previous environmental volunteering experience and focus on participants with little experience to maximize health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to conduct a systematic review of articles on climate change in religious education found through scholarly databases. Five database searches have been conducted, resulting in 49 academic journal articles. The results are categorized into studies that focus on theory and methodology, observations of existing practices, and quantitative studies on climate change. The key findings include the recognition of an environmental crisis and the cultivation of hope regarding climate change. It demonstrates that religious education can play a crucial role in schools by addressing climate anxiety and fostering hope for a brighter future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the current levels of pollution and global warming concerns, consumers started to be more and more involved with environmental issues, becoming more anxious regarding the state of natural resource depletion. Thus, this research aims to examine the concept of eco‐anxiety among consumers who are aware of the repercussions of the current environmental complexities, analysing how or to what extent it affects them, bearing in mind that individuals may tend to escape from stressful environmental issues. A conceptual model will be tested using data from consumers of two countries representing very different regions and socioeconomic contexts: India and Italy. An online self‐administered questionnaire was distributed in India and Italy between February and March 2022. Employing partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM), a sample of 557 individuals was collected (316 from India; 241 from Italy). The study examined the measurement model to assess validity and reliability, as well as the structural model to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that consumers of India and Italy tend to avoid thinking about environmental crises trying to normalise their plight. As observed, eco‐anxiety positively influences emotional dissonance, and escapism is positively related to this construct, but intentions to buy green products are found to be insignificant. Practical implications were drawn for policymakers and practitioners, indicating different orientations according to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eco-anxiety is increasingly recognized as a shared experience by many people internationally, encompassing fear of environmental catastrophe and anxiety about ecological crises. Despite its importance in the context of the changing climate, measures for this construct are still being developed in languages other than English. Methods: To contribute to global eco-anxiety research, we translated the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS) into Spanish, creating the HEAS-SP. We validated this measure in samples from both Argentina (n = 990) and Spain (n = 548), performing measurement invariance and confirmatory factor analyses. Internal consistency of the scale and score stability over time were investigated through reliability analyses. Differences in eco-anxiety across sociodemographic variables were explored through Student's t-tests and Pearson's r tests. Results: The four-factor model of the HEAS-SP comprising affective and behavioural symptoms, rumination, and anxiety about personal impact demonstrated excellent model fit. We found good internal consistency for each subscale, and established measurement invariance between Spanish and Argentine samples, as well as across genders and participants' age. Spanish participants reported higher scores on the affective symptoms and personal impact anxiety factors compared to the Argentinian sample. Also, men reported lower levels than women on the subscales of affective symptoms, rumination, and personal impact anxiety. It was found that the relationship between both age and personal impact anxiety and age and affective symptoms varies significantly depending on the gender of the individuals. Younger participants tended to report higher scores on most dimensions of eco-anxiety. Conclusions: These findings enhance the global initiative to investigate, explore and therefore comprehend eco-anxiety by introducing the first valid and reliable Spanish-language version of this psychometric instrument for its use within Spanish and Argentinian populations. This study augments the body of evidence supporting the robust psychometric properties of the HEAS, as demonstrated in prior validations for Australian, Turkish, Portuguese, German, French, and Italian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: climate change is a reality, and more and more people are becoming aware of this global problem, which has generated anxiety in some populations. To validate a short survey to assess eco-anxiety in adults in South America. Methods: It is an instrumental study, and the validation was based on a previous survey, which had six questions and was generated by 217 respondents in the USA in 2021. These questions were subjected to a validation process with expert judgment, pilot and application, and then statistics were obtained. It was validated with 1907 people in six countries in South America, where the mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were adequate. Results: The initial confirmatory factorial model obtained unsatisfactory goodness-of-fit indices, so the indices were modified through a re-specification, where two items were eliminated, after which adequate values were obtained (χ2 = 22.34, df = 2, p = 0.00; RMR = 0.020; GFI = 0.990; CFI = 0.990; TLI = 0.990; and RMSEA = 0.070). Finally, the overall Cronbach's α was calculated to be 0.88 (95% CI = 0.86–0.89). Conclusions: The test was validated in a large South American population and found that only four questions can efficiently measure anxiety about the effects of climate change. The instrument can be used with other tests to screen different age groups, ethnicities and realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has emerged as a tough challenge affecting the world's society and economy in the twenty-first century. Furthermore, it has been determined that global warming and climate change have detrimental effects on human health both physical and psychological. In this framework, eco-anxiety has emerged as a new construct to assess the distress in relation to climate change and its effects. In the current article, after a study of the literature regarding both eco-anxiety and generativity related to environmental issues, in the search for a healthy response to eco-anxiety, we propose the construct of eco-generativity as a sustainable development-related concept for the health of planet earth and people in the present and in the future. Accordingly, we explore the definitions of generativity in relation to the ecological environment, examining the development of the concept in accordance with the most recent research. Subsequently, according to the lens of psychology of sustainability and sustainable development, we propose key elements of eco-generativity in terms of construct and measures. Finally, a research agenda for future research and intervention on eco-generativity is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to better understand the mechanisms that connect climate change perceptions and general willingness to engage in pro-environmental behavior using Spanish cross-sectional data (N = 403) that included 102 members of environmental organizations. To do this, we first developed and validated the General Willingness for Environmental Behavior Scale (GWEBS), which includes the classical approach of voluntarily doing new actions but also actions implying not doing things (degrowth) and actions forced by social constraints. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for the one-factor structure, which had adequate validity based on their relationship with other variables. Additionally, the GWEBS distinguished between women and men, left- and right-oriented people, and people who belonged to pro-environmental groups and people who did not. In the second place, we tested the parallel mediator role of eco-anxiety and trust in science in the relationship between climate change perceptions and the GWEBS. The results showed that eco-anxiety fully mediated and trust in science partially mediated such a relationship, making them crucial in terms of mobilizing the intention to act according to perceptions. This study contributes to understanding the psychological mechanisms that eventually drive pro-environmental behaviors and provides a clear direction for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and its consequences are recognized as one of the most important challenges to the functioning of the Earth's ecosystem and humanity. However, the response to the threat posed by the climate crisis still seems inadequate. The question of which psychological factors cause people to engage (or not) in pro-environmental behavior remains without a comprehensive answer. The aim of this study is to establish the links between the cognitive (level of knowledge about climate change and degree of belief in climate myths), emotional (various climate emotions, especially climate anxiety) and behavioral aspects of attitudes towards the climate crisis and their determinants in the form of the Big Five personality domains and time perspectives. The stated hypotheses were verified by analyzing data collected in an online survey of 333 adults using knowledge tests and self-report methods, including psychological questionnaires (Climate Change Anxiety Scale by Clayton and Karazsia, Big Five Inventory–short version by Schupp and Gerlitz, and Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory by Zimbardo and Boyd), and measurement scales developed for this study (Climate myth belief scale, Climate emotion scale, and Inventories of current and planned pro-environmental activities). The results of stepwise regression analysis demonstrate the importance of the core personality traits and the dominant temporal perspective as determinants of belief in climate change myths, climate anxiety, as well as actual and planned pro-environmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-anxiety, grief and despair are increasing, yet these emotions tend to remain private, rarely expressed in public. Why is it important and necessary to grieve for ecological loss? Why are we not—as individuals and societies—coming together to express and share our grief for ecological destruction? I address these questions from three angles. Firstly, I draw on recent literature on ecological grief and prior work on grief for human lives, to argue for the importance and urgency of grieving publicly for ecological loss. Building on this, I identify perceptual, cognitive, affective, ritual and political obstacles to ecological mourning; these obstacles point at critical intersections between emotions, practices, disciplines, public and private realms, which can turn into fruitful venues for further research, debate and action on ecological grief (and its absence). In closing, I propose a set of 'ecological skills' that might help us overcome these obstacles, and lead us to embrace ecological grief and mourning as acts of ethical responsibility and care for the planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]