Climate change anxiety: A meta-analysis

IF 8.6 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Global Environmental Change Pub Date : 2025-06-21 DOI:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103015

Clara Kühner , Corinna Gemmecke , Joachim Hüffmeier , Hannes Zacher

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Abstract

Climate change anxiety is increasingly prevalent, attracting both scientific and societal interest. However, the potential antecedents and consequences of this phenomenon are not comprehensively understood. This meta-analysis synthesizes 94 studies including 170,747 adult participants from 27 countries, examining 33 correlates of climate change anxiety. We find that: (1) certain groups are more likely to experience climate change anxiety, including younger individuals, women, and individuals with higher levels of neuroticism, as well as people with left-leaning political views, individuals highly concerned about the future or the environment, and those exposed to perceived climate change consequences or frequent climate change information; (2) belief in climate change, climate change risk perceptions, and perceived consensus among climate scientists are positively associated with climate change anxiety; (3) climate change anxiety is negatively related to well-being, but positively related to climate action, with associations surpassing those of generalized anxiety. Implications for supporting vulnerable groups, channeling climate change anxiety into action, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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气候变化焦虑：荟萃分析

气候变化焦虑日益普遍，吸引了科学界和社会的兴趣。然而，这一现象的潜在前因后果尚未得到全面了解。这项荟萃分析综合了94项研究，包括来自27个国家的170747名成年人，研究了33种与气候变化焦虑相关的因素。研究发现：(1)特定群体更容易经历气候变化焦虑，包括年轻人、女性和神经质程度较高的个体，以及政治观点左倾的个体、对未来或环境高度关注的个体、暴露于气候变化后果感知或频繁信息的个体；(2)气候变化信念、气候变化风险认知、气候科学家共识感知与气候变化焦虑呈显著正相关；(3)气候变化焦虑与幸福感呈负相关，与气候行动呈正相关，关联度高于广泛性焦虑。讨论了支持弱势群体、将气候变化焦虑转化为行动的意义以及对未来研究的建议。

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来源期刊

Global Environmental Change 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

18.20

自引率

2.20%

发文量

146

审稿时长

12 months

期刊介绍： Global Environmental Change is a prestigious international journal that publishes articles of high quality, both theoretically and empirically rigorous. The journal aims to contribute to the understanding of global environmental change from the perspectives of human and policy dimensions. Specifically, it considers global environmental change as the result of processes occurring at the local level, but with wide-ranging impacts on various spatial, temporal, and socio-political scales. In terms of content, the journal seeks articles with a strong social science component. This includes research that examines the societal drivers and consequences of environmental change, as well as social and policy processes that aim to address these challenges. While the journal covers a broad range of topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate, coasts, food systems, land use and land cover, oceans, urban areas, and water resources, it also welcomes contributions that investigate the drivers, consequences, and management of other areas affected by environmental change. Overall, Global Environmental Change encourages research that deepens our understanding of the complex interactions between human activities and the environment, with the goal of informing policy and decision-making.