Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hakkari, Hakkari, Turkey.
Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Batman, Batman, Turkey.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2023 Dec;69(8):2157-2166. doi: 10.1177/00207640231206060. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
Climate anxiety, one of the negative emotions created by climate change, is particularly prevalent among climate activists and young individuals who hold a more serious concern for environmental issues.
This study aims to determine the effects of climate change awareness on the mental health of young people in Turkey.
Designed as a descriptive and two-group comparative study, the target population of this study comprises young individuals aged 15 to 24 who are climate activists and those who are not. The study data was collected through e-questionnaires administered between March 15 and May 10, 2023, using a demographic characteristics form, a climate change anxiety scale and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. The study was completed with a total of 306 participants, including 103 young individuals who are climate activists and 203 young individuals who are not climate activists.
We determined that young individuals who are climate activists have a high level of climate change anxiety, while those who are not climate activists have a moderate level of climate change anxiety. We found that the levels of hopelessness in both groups are at a mild level. Additionally, within the group of climate activists, we observed that individuals with a higher level of knowledge about climate change tend to exhibit greater levels of hopelessness.
We identified that as awareness and knowledge about climate change increase, climate change anxiety, and hopelessness also increase. There is a need for studies to determine youth-specific mental health interventions to address mental health issues related to climate change awareness.
气候变化引起的负面情绪之一是气候焦虑，在气候活动家和对环境问题更为关注的年轻人中尤为普遍。
本研究旨在确定气候变化意识对土耳其年轻人心理健康的影响。
本研究设计为描述性和两组比较研究，研究对象为年龄在 15 至 24 岁之间的、有或没有参与气候活动的年轻人。研究数据于 2023 年 3 月 15 日至 5 月 10 日期间通过电子问卷收集，使用人口统计学特征表、气候变化焦虑量表和贝克绝望量表。共有 306 名参与者完成了研究，其中 103 名是气候活动家，203 名不是气候活动家。
我们发现，有气候活动的年轻人有较高水平的气候变化焦虑，而没有气候活动的年轻人则有中等水平的气候变化焦虑。我们发现，两组的绝望程度都处于轻度水平。此外，在气候活动家群体中，我们观察到那些对气候变化有更高认识水平的人表现出更高水平的绝望。
我们发现，随着对气候变化的认识和了解的增加，气候变化焦虑和绝望感也会增加。需要进行研究以确定针对青年的特定心理健康干预措施，以解决与气候变化意识相关的心理健康问题。
