Vercammen Ans, Oswald Tassia, Lawrance Emma
The School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
The Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Aug 23;3(8):e0001938. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001938. eCollection 2023.
Although the UK has been relatively spared significant geophysical impacts of climate change, many people, youth in particular, are increasingly worried about climate change. The psychological distress associated with the (perceived) threat of climate change has been linked to poorer mental wellbeing but can also promote adaptive responses such as engagement in pro-environmental behaviour. In this mixed methods study, we delve deeper into the experience of 'climate distress' among UK residents aged 16-24 (N = 539). We conducted an online survey assessing general mental health, subjective wellbeing, and climate distress with existing scales. We also included novel questions assessing positive and negative life impacts of climate change, open-ended questions on aspirations and priorities for the future, and engagement in pro-environmental and climate actions. Our findings indicate that mental health factors may contribute to vulnerability to climate distress. Predictably, socio-psychological responses to climate change (i.e., frustration over inaction, lack of control, and shame or guilt about one's own contributions) were linked to higher scores on the climate distress scale. Negatively appraised climate change-related events (i.e., seeing an environment they care about change for the worse) were associated with higher climate distress. Individuals with high climate distress (10.1% of our sample) reported worrying about the impact of climate change on their own future more frequently than any other topic surveyed (including personal finance, career, relationships, politics). Both positive (hope/interest) and negative (anger/frustration) emotions inspired action-taking, especially climate activism, which was negatively predicted by guilt/shame and sadness/fear. Private-sphere pro-environmental actions appeared less driven by strong emotions. Overall, our findings present a more nuanced picture of climate distress in terms of emotional responses, behaviour, and mental health. Longitudinal research is urgently needed to understand how distress may change over time, and the conditions that lead to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes.
尽管英国相对较少受到气候变化带来的重大地球物理影响，但许多人，尤其是年轻人，越来越担心气候变化。与（感知到的）气候变化威胁相关的心理困扰与较差的心理健康状况有关，但也能促进适应性反应，比如参与环保行为。在这项混合方法研究中，我们更深入地探究了16至24岁英国居民（N = 539）的“气候困扰”体验。我们通过在线调查，用现有量表评估总体心理健康、主观幸福感和气候困扰。我们还纳入了评估气候变化对生活的积极和消极影响的新问题、关于未来愿望和优先事项的开放式问题，以及参与环保和气候行动的情况。我们的研究结果表明，心理健康因素可能导致易受气候困扰影响。不出所料，对气候变化的社会心理反应（即对不作为的沮丧、缺乏控制感，以及对自身贡献的羞耻或内疚）与气候困扰量表上的高分相关。对与气候变化相关事件的负面评价（即看到他们关心的环境变得更糟）与更高的气候困扰有关。气候困扰程度高的个体（占我们样本的10.1%）报告称，比起调查的任何其他话题（包括个人财务、职业、人际关系、政治），他们更频繁地担心气候变化对自己未来的影响。积极情绪（希望/兴趣）和消极情绪（愤怒/沮丧）都激发了行动，尤其是气候行动主义，而内疚/羞耻和悲伤/恐惧对其有负面预测作用。私人领域的环保行动似乎较少受到强烈情绪的驱动。总体而言，我们的研究结果在情绪反应、行为和心理健康方面呈现了一幅关于气候困扰的更细致入微的图景。迫切需要进行纵向研究，以了解困扰如何随时间变化，以及导致适应性和适应不良结果的条件。
