COMPASS-Québec, Centre de Recherche VITAM, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, 2480 Chemin de la Canardière, Quebec City, QC, G1J 2G1, Canada.
Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Oct 30;24(1):3009. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20333-y.
The current understanding of climate anxiety among adolescents is sparse. This study identifies the characteristics of adolescents living in Quebec (Canada) who experience impairments induced by climate anxiety, who have feelings of self-efficacy and who adopt pro-environment behaviors. It also characterizes the association between climate anxiety, feelings of self-efficacy, and environmental actions.
We used a cross-sectional design to analyze data from the COMPASS study on adolescent health. Participants (n = 45 362) from 113 schools in Quebec (Canada) answered questions about climate anxiety, self-efficacy, behavioral engagement, and several indicators of well-being. Data were analyzed using ordered logistic regressions adjusted for potential confounders (age, gender, school type, material deprivation, etc.).
9% of adolescents reported that thinking about climate change made it difficult to sleep at least sometimes. 6% of adolescents reported that thinking about climate change interfered with their ability to get work or assignments done at least sometimes. Only 34% believed they could do something to address the problem, and 43% tried to reduce their behaviors that contribute to climate change at least sometimes. Adolescents who were boys or who were less anxious experienced less impairment and were less involved in the fight against climate change. Adolescents from less affluent families experienced more difficulty sleeping and interference with work but were not more engaged. Those with stronger school connectedness experienced less impairment and were more often involved in the fight against climate change. Adolescents who felt they could do something about climate change were more likely to try to reduce behaviors that contribute to climate change.
The findings are useful to identify and support vulnerable groups that are more likely to experience impairment due to climate anxiety. The feeling of climate self-efficacy was not well developed among some groups of adolescents. Improving adolescents' beliefs in their capacity to help address climate change may be a key strategy to promote pro-environmental actions. As the threat of climate change increases, it will be important to follow the evolution of climate anxiety and engagement among adolescents.
目前对青少年气候焦虑的了解还很匮乏。本研究旨在确定魁北克（加拿大）青少年的特点，这些青少年受到气候焦虑的影响，感到自我效能感，并采取有利于环境的行为。本研究还描述了气候焦虑、自我效能感和环境行为之间的关系。
我们使用横断面设计，对魁北克青少年健康研究（COMPASS）的数据进行分析。来自加拿大魁北克 113 所学校的 45362 名参与者回答了关于气候焦虑、自我效能、行为参与以及幸福感的几个指标的问题。使用有序逻辑回归对数据进行分析，调整了潜在的混杂因素（年龄、性别、学校类型、物质匮乏等）。
9%的青少年报告说，至少有时一想到气候变化就会导致难以入睡。6%的青少年报告说，至少有时一想到气候变化就会干扰他们完成工作或作业的能力。只有 34%的人认为他们可以采取一些措施来解决这个问题，43%的人至少有时试图减少他们导致气候变化的行为。男孩或焦虑程度较低的青少年经历的障碍较少，参与应对气候变化的程度也较低。来自不那么富裕家庭的青少年经历更多的睡眠困难和工作干扰，但参与度没有更高。与学校联系更紧密的青少年经历的障碍较小，参与应对气候变化的程度也更高。那些认为自己可以做些什么来应对气候变化的青少年更有可能尝试减少导致气候变化的行为。
这些发现有助于识别和支持因气候焦虑而更容易受到影响的脆弱群体。一些青少年群体的气候自我效能感没有得到很好的发展。增强青少年对自己应对气候变化能力的信心，可能是促进有利于环境的行为的关键策略。随着气候变化威胁的增加，关注青少年的气候焦虑和参与度的演变将变得非常重要。
