Understanding the Spectrum of Anxiety Responses to Climate Change: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Literature

Soutar, Catriona; Wand, Anne

doi:10.3390/ijerph19020990

Cited by 46 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Shortly before the start of the survey, the Russian–Ukrainian conflict escalated, and young people were confronted with disturbing news from a neighboring European country. Additionally, the climate crisis may play a part in generating a situation of an uncertain and unstable future, which can lead to climate anxiety [ 50 ]. Adolescents who are heavy users of social media, especially girls, may be particularly affected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Long-Term Mental Health Effects on Austrian Students after COVID-19 Restrictions

Kaltschik

Pieh

Dale

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The mental health of adolescents has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the mental health of Austrian adolescents in spring 2022, a time during which COVID-19-related restrictions had been significantly lifted. A total of N = 616 students aged between 14 and 20 participated in a cross-sectional survey between April and May 2022 (t2). The prevalence of clinically relevant symptoms was 73% among girls and 44% among boys for depression (PHQ-9 score ≥ 11), 57% in girls and 35% in boys for anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥ 11), 34% in girls and 21% in boys for sleeping problems (ISI score ≥ 15), and 95% in girls and 81% in boys for experiencing at least moderate stress (PSS-10 score ≥ 14). Frequent suicidal ideations were reported by 24% of girls and 12% of boys. These results were compared with the results from a cross-sectional study from February 2021 (t1). To account for differences in covariates between samples, data were propensity score matched before the analysis. Compared with t1, we found an increase among girls regarding clinically relevant symptoms of depression (OR = 1.78), anxiety (OR = 1.34), insomnia (OR = 1.63), and suicidal ideations (OR = 1.96; p < 0.05 for all measures). Significant correlations were found between smartphone use and mental health and physical activity and mental health for both genders. The results of this study indicated that even during the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of adolescents in Austria is still severely impaired.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Long-Term Mental Health Effects on Austrian Students after COVID-19 Restrictions

Kaltschik

Pieh

Dale

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…However, problem-focused coping strategies may negatively impact well-being because an individual cannot solve climate change (Clayton, 2020;Ojala, 2012b;Soutar & Wand, 2022). Thus, problemfocused coping may place students at risk when they already feel stressed, overwhelmed and vulnerable, factors that themselves contribute to climate anxiety (Pihkala, 2020a).…”

Section: Coping With Climate Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the impact of the endorsed coping strategy on individual mental well-being is also worth considering. Problem-focused coping is generally associated with increased mental well-being, yet when the challenge is not readily solved individually, as with climate change, heightened distress may occur (Clayton, 2020;Ojala, 2012b;Soutar & Wand, 2022). Emotion-focused coping improves anxious emotions temporarily, though negative emotions are apt to return over time (Clayton, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate anxiety, coping strategies and planning for the future in environmental degree students in the UK

Vercammen¹,

Kioupi²,

Daeninck³

2023

Preprint

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Climate anxiety, which is prominent among young people in particular, describes a state of heightened distress about the (future) effects of climate change. Despite evidence of a link between engagement in climate change issues and heightened climate anxiety, there is a dearth of knowledge on how this affects emerging professionals preparing for careers in the environmental sector, how they are coping with their thoughts and feelings about climate change, and the extent to which this affects their future plans. The aim of this project was to understand the occurrence and personal management of climate anxiety in UK university students through an online questionnaire. We find that environmental degree students (n = 249) report greater levels of climate anxiety, more frequent employment of all three examined coping strategies and are more likely to factor climate change into their career plans, as compared to their non-environmental degree counterparts (n = 224). Problem-focused coping was the most commonly endorsed strategy, although the prior literature on coping suggests that this may not be sustainable for individually intractable problems. Highly climate-anxious students were more likely to consider climate change in all five decision-making domains, including family planning, long-term habitation, career, financial and travel decisions. This study has identified a need to communicate effective climate anxiety coping strategies to environmental practitioners, university students and educators. Additional research is required to validate the study findings and investigate what motivates students to incorporate climate change into future plans.

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“…Because climate emotions are relatively novel affective phenomena, empirical research describing and understanding experiences of climate emotions is essential to ground analytical, theoretical, and practical advances in peoples lived and embodied experiences. The research focused on describing and understanding experiences of climate emotions is generally descriptive and often employs qualitative data collection such as interviews (Wright and Nyberg, 2012;Kemkes and Akerman, 2019;Soutar and Wand, 2022). For example, Kemkes and Akerman (2019) used semi-structured interviews and interpretive phenomenological analysis to examine the lived experiences of climate change on the South shore of Lake Superior, focusing on feelings and emotional responses to climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also a blind spot in survey-based research on climate emotions outside of urban settings and at local and regional levels (Soutar and Wand, 2022). Moreover, more work exploring the interconnectedness among specific emotions is needed to inform future developments related to frameworks and taxonomies/typologies of climate emotions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Climate Emotions in Canada’s Provincial North

Galway

Beery

2022

Front. Psychol.

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The mental and emotional dimensions of climate change are increasingly concerning as extreme events become more frequent and severe, ecosystem destruction advances, and people become more aware of climate impacts and injustices. Research on climate emotions has rapidly advanced over the last decade with growing evidence illustrating that climate emotions can impact health, shape climate action, and ought to be considered in climate change communication, education, and engagement. This paper explores, describes, and discusses climate emotions in the context of Canada’s Provincial North: a vast region characterized by a vulnerability to climate change, remoteness, political marginalization, diverse Indigenous populations, and economies/livelihoods tied to resource extraction. Using postal survey data collected in two Provincial North communities (Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Prince George, British Columbia; N = 627), we aim to (1) describe climate emotions experienced in the context of Canada’s Provincial North, including relationships among specific emotions; and (2) examine if socio-demographic variables (gender, age, and parenthood) show a relationship with climate emotions. Results show high levels of emotional response to climate change overall, with worry and frustration as those emotions reported by the highest percentage of participants. We also find significant difference in climate emotions between men and women. A methodological result was noted in the usefulness of the Climate Emotion Scale (CES), which showed high reliability and high inter-item correlation. A notable limitation of our data is its’ underrepresentation of Indigenous peoples. The findings contribute to a greater understanding of climate emotions with relevance to similar settings characterized by marginalization, vulnerability to climate change, urban islands within vast rural and remote landscapes, and economies and social identities tied to resource extraction. We discuss our findings in relation to the literature and outline future research directions and implications.

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Understanding the Spectrum of Anxiety Responses to Climate Change: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Literature

Cited by 46 publications

References 71 publications

Assessment of the Long-Term Mental Health Effects on Austrian Students after COVID-19 Restrictions

Assessment of the Long-Term Mental Health Effects on Austrian Students after COVID-19 Restrictions

Climate anxiety, coping strategies and planning for the future in environmental degree students in the UK

Exploring Climate Emotions in Canada’s Provincial North

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