Sciberras Emma, Fernando Julian W
School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, Vic, Australia.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2022 Feb;27(1):22-29. doi: 10.1111/camh.12521. Epub 2021 Nov 12.
Worry about climate change may be associated with poorer mental health but also with greater political engagement. We determined trajectories of climate change-related worry over adolescence and whether these were associated with depression symptoms and greater engagement with news and politics in late adolescence.
At ages 10-11, 12-13, 16-17 and 18-19 years, adolescents participating in the Kindergarten cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children rated their worry about climate change. At age 18-19 years, participants reported on depression symptoms and engagement with news and politics. Latent profile analysis determined trajectories of climate change-related worry across all time points (N = 2244). Linear regression analyses examined the association between trajectories and outcomes at 18-19 years.
Thirteen per cent (n = 290) of adolescents had high persistent worry. The largest proportions had moderate (n = 559, 24.9%) or increasing worry (n = 546, 24.3%), followed by persistent low worry (n = 376, 16.8%), slightly decreasing worry (n = 297, 13.2%) and steeply decreasing worry (n = 176, 7.8%). Adolescents with high persistent worry had higher depression symptoms at age 18-19 years compared to the moderate group, while those with increasing worry did not. The high persistent and increasing worry groups reported greater engagement with news and politics across several measures.
This is the first study to track climate-related worry and outcomes in young people across adolescence. A substantial number of Australian adolescents experience high or increasing worry about climate change, which is associated with greater societal engagement.
对气候变化的担忧可能与较差的心理健康状况相关，但也与更高的政治参与度有关。我们确定了青少年时期与气候变化相关的担忧轨迹，以及这些轨迹是否与青少年后期的抑郁症状以及对新闻和政治的更多参与有关。
在10 - 11岁、12 - 13岁、16 - 17岁和18 - 19岁时，参与澳大利亚儿童纵向研究幼儿园队列的青少年对他们对气候变化的担忧程度进行评分。在18 - 19岁时，参与者报告抑郁症状以及对新闻和政治的参与情况。潜在剖面分析确定了所有时间点（N = 2244）与气候变化相关的担忧轨迹。线性回归分析检验了18 - 19岁时轨迹与结果之间的关联。
13%（n = 290）的青少年有高度持续担忧。比例最大的是中度担忧（n = 559，24.9%）或担忧程度增加（n = 546，24.3%），其次是持续低担忧（n = 376，16.8%）、轻微下降担忧（n = 297，13.2%）和急剧下降担忧（n = 176，7.8%）。与中度担忧组相比，高度持续担忧的青少年在18 - 19岁时抑郁症状更严重，而担忧程度增加的青少年则不然。高度持续担忧组和担忧程度增加组在多项指标上报告了更高的新闻和政治参与度。
这是第一项追踪青少年时期与气候相关的担忧及其结果的研究。相当数量的澳大利亚青少年对气候变化有高度或不断增加的担忧，这与更高的社会参与度有关。
