Previous studies examining psychological distress associated with climate change have found cognitive, affective and behavioural influences. This distress, termed climate anxiety, is thought to be chronic in nature, and may result in long-lasting and significant negative impacts on mental health. The present study examined how climate anxiety may be impacting people’s frequency of pro-environment behaviours. To effectively measure participants’ behavioural frequency and preferences, we used a discrete choice experiment, which simulated a transport scenario where participants would have to make trade-offs between cost, time and eco-friendliness. A total of 256 participants (95 male, 161 female) completed the study. It was found that participants with moderate levels of climate anxiety had a higher frequency of pro-environment behaviours than participants with low or high levels of climate anxiety. Furthermore, participants with low or high levels of climate anxiety gave a higher preference for options that cost less or take less time. This evidence supports the hypothesis that moderate levels of climate anxiety may be optimal for pro-environmental behavioural response. 

The Relationship between Climate Anxiety and Pro-Environment Behaviours

Previous studies, to some extent, link creativity, well-being, and environmental concerns. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations between self-reported creativity, psychological well-being, and climate change concerns. This study was based on data derived from the European Social Survey’s 10th round and applied several items from sections H, B, and C. The findings revealed that creativity was positively linked to climate change concerns and psychological well-being, while psychological well-being was, to some extent, negatively related to climate change concerns. The SEM model demonstrated an acceptable fit, χ2 = 1627.862; Df = 7; CFI = 0.959; TLI = 0.876; NFI = 0.958; RMSEA = 0.078 [0.075–0.082]. Additionally, the findings indicated that more creative and happy individuals were also more concerned about climate change; they were more prone to believe that climate change is caused by human activity, they felt a higher personal responsibility to reduce climate change, and they were significantly more worried about climate change. This implies that as creative and happy individuals have a heightened sense of responsibility for climate change, these individuals may indeed play a key role in promoting climate change awareness and actions, including communication on sustainability, sustainability-related projects, and other activities; thus, tailored campaigns could be developed within the frames of citizen science. The findings also suggest implications for policy development: policymakers could consider the perspectives of creative and happy individuals when crafting climate policies, potentially leading to more effective and widely accepted solutions.

Creative and Happy Individuals Concerned about Climate Change: Evidence Based on the 10th Round of the European Social Survey in 22 Countries

The aim of this study was to analyze the perceived self and collective efficacy, individual and social norms and feelings related to environmental health concern among a sample of Pakistanis who are (or are not) engage in pro- environment behaviors in their daily lives. An ad hoc questionnaire with scales on pro-environmental behavior, self and collective efficacy, individual and social norms, and environmental health concerns was administered to adults in Lahore, Pakistan, and 833 respondents (62% males and 38% females) responded. Analysis of our research data shows that among those who engaged in daily pro-environmental behaviors, perceptions of individual and social norms and individual and collective efficacy were positively associated with concern for the environment and health. This study offers some interesting ideas that could be useful in developing federal, regional, local and community policies to promote daily pro-environmental behaviors. For example, in addition to advocating for environmental health and reducing one’s ecological footprint, social communication could explain that caring about environmental health (and thus adopting daily pro-environmental behaviors) is a way to manage one’s mental health. In this way, circular behavior is encouraged, which not only benefits the environment and the community, but also brings personal benefits.

Daily pro-environment behavior in a Pakistani sample: Self and collective efficacy, individual and social norms and environmental concerns

As climate change continues unabated, research is increasingly focused on capturing and quantifying the lesser-known psychological responses and mental health implications of this humanitarian and environmental crisis. There has been a particular interest in the experiences of young people, who are more vulnerable for a range of reasons, including their developmental stage, the high rates of mental health conditions among this population, and their relative lack of agency to address climate threats. The different geographic and sociocultural settings in which people are coming of age afford certain opportunities and present distinct challenges and exposures to climate hazards. Understanding the diversity of lived experiences is vitally important for informing evidence-based, locally led psychosocial support and social and climate policies. In this Project Report we describe the design and implementation of the “Changing Worlds” study, focusing on our experiences and personal reflections as a transdisciplinary collaboration representing the UK, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, the Philippines, and the USA. The project was conceived within the planetary health paradigm, aimed at characterizing and quantifying the impacts of human-mediated environmental systems changes on youth mental health and wellbeing. With input from local youth representatives, we designed and delivered a series of locally adapted surveys asking young people about their mental health and wellbeing, as well as their thoughts, emotions, and perceived agency in relation to the climate crisis and the global COVID-19 pandemic. This project report outlines the principles that guided the study design and describes the conceptual and practical hurdles we navigated as a distributed and interdisciplinary research collaboration working in different institutional, social, and research governance settings. Finally, we highlight lessons learned, specify our recommendations for other collaborative research projects in this space, and touch upon the next steps for our work. This project explicitly balances context sensitivity and the need for quantitative, globally comparable data on how youth are responding to and coping with environmental change, inspiring a new vision for a global community of practice on mental health in climate change. 

pdf/challenges-14-00034-v2-2ikpms2b04.pdf

Investigating the Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change in Youth: Design and Implementation of the International Changing Worlds Study

<title>Abstract</title> This review paper explores two rising emotional responses to climate change — “eco<bold> </bold>anxiety” and “environmental guilt” — and how they influence people's attitudes and actions toward the environment. <bold>Eco-anxiety</bold> is the chronic worry or fear about the planet’s future due to climate change, while <bold>Environmental guilt</bold> is the feeling of regret or responsibility for harming the environment through daily choices. The study reviews existing psychological and behavioral research to understand how these emotions affect different groups — especially young people and whether they lead to positive climate actions or emotional burnout. It also examines the role of media<bold>, </bold>activism<bold>, </bold>and education in increasing or managing these emotions. While these feelings can motivate people to care more about the environment, they can also cause stress<bold>, </bold>helplessness, and inaction if not addressed properly. The paper highlights the need for more research in developing countries, where climate impacts are high but emotional responses are rarely studied. 

pdf/eco-anxiety-and-environmental-guilt-a-psychological-review-b7mq8zntro9p.pdf

Eco-Anxiety and Environmental Guilt: A Psychological Review of Emotional Drivers in Climate Behavior

The earth is under a great threat of destruction due to careless and exploitative anthropological actions. The current research explored the relationship between eco- anxiety (EAn), eco-activism (EAc) and environmental concern (EC) while determining the extent to which eco-activism gets determined by eco-anxiety and environmental concern. Three scales, namely, Hoggs Anxiety Scale, Pro Environmental Behaviour Scale and Taj Environmental Attitude scale were used. Pearsons correlation and regression were used for statistical analysis. A significant (0.01 level) mild positive correlation of 0.22 between eco-activism and eco-anxiety and of 0.33 between eco- activism and environmental concern was found. Regression analysis showed that eco- anxiety and environmental concern significantly predicted eco-activism. The relationship between the variables was further explained in the discussion section.

Eco-Anxiety and Environmental Concern as Predictors of Eco-Activism

Psychological Determinants of Environmental Conservation Behavior: Unveiling Key Influencing Factors.

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Eco-Anxiety and Environmental Concern as Predictors of Eco-Activism

Psychological Determinants of Environmental Conservation Behavior: Unveiling Key Influencing Factors.