Anxiety about climate change is increasing. What are its predictors?
In a cross-sectional survey of 323 North Americans, 6 possible predictors and their interrelations were investigated: climate change knowledge, prior experience with climate change impacts, generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, climate change worry, climate change risk perception, and media exposure to climate change information. [See Table 9] A model of the connections among them was proposed.
Most hypotheses about the model’s structure were supported; the model had a very good fit to the data, and it accounted for 54% of the variance in reported climate change anxiety.
The results help to explicate who experiences climate change anxiety and suggest directions toward effective means of addressing climate-related mental health concerns. Some implications for theory and practice are offered.
[Keywords: climate change, general anxiety disorder, climate change worry, climate change anxiety, media exposure]
