Farrokhi Mehrdad, Khankeh Hamid Reza, Amanat Nasir, Kamali Mohammad, Fathi Mohammad
Health in Emergency and Disaster Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
J Educ Health Promot. 2020 Dec 29;9:346. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_415_20. eCollection 2020.
Risk perception is an important predictor to mitigate climate change effects which can produce mental health consequences such as anxiety and depression. For developing policies of climate risk adaptation, awareness of public attitudes, beliefs, and perception is essential. At this study, researchers tried to focus on the often "unseen" psychological aspects of climate change.
A qualitative approach was done with a consistent content analysis method. The study consisted of 33 participants including ordinary people and experts in disasters and climate change. Purposeful sampling was adopted until data saturation. The data collection was performed through in-depth and semi-structured interviews. All interviews were transcribed after listening again and again and reading several times to catch an overall understanding of the interviews.
The main theme of the study was "Complexity nature of climate change risk perception" and related categories including "the Mental health dimension," "the Cognitive dimension" and "Interaction of imposed components." The structure of the research community strongly reflected effects of cultural and religious factors in all aspects of community life. Participants' life experiences of extreme events were associated to their perception of climate change.
Risk perception is multifactorial and complicate and should clearly be understood to improve community participation to manage climate change-related risks. We propose that authorities and related managers should pay attention to it as a priority. This may assist in developing research on public mental health practices.
风险认知是减轻气候变化影响的重要预测指标，气候变化会产生焦虑和抑郁等心理健康后果。对于制定气候风险适应政策而言，了解公众的态度、信念和认知至关重要。在本研究中，研究人员试图聚焦于气候变化中常常“看不见”的心理层面。
采用定性研究方法并结合一致的内容分析法。该研究包括33名参与者，其中有普通民众以及灾害和气候变化领域的专家。采用目的抽样法直至数据饱和。通过深入和半结构化访谈收集数据。所有访谈在反复聆听和多次阅读以全面理解访谈内容后进行转录。
该研究的主要主题是“气候变化风险认知的复杂性本质”以及相关类别，包括“心理健康维度”“认知维度”和“施加因素的相互作用”。研究群体的结构强烈反映了文化和宗教因素在群体生活各个方面的影响。参与者极端事件的生活经历与他们对气候变化的认知相关。
风险认知是多因素且复杂的，为提高社区应对气候变化相关风险的参与度，必须清晰地理解这一点。我们建议当局和相关管理人员应将其作为优先事项予以关注。这可能有助于开展关于公众心理健康实践的研究。
