Abstract
The aim of the present research is to investigate the associations between the level of eco-anxiety and other variables such as environmental affect traits, connectedness to nature, depression, anxiety and media exposure. Participants attending climate awareness workshops were provided with a link to an online survey. A total of 522 French-speaking adults completed all questionnaires aimed at measuring various factors related to eco-anxiety. Multiple linear regressions and network analysis were conducted to examine correlations, assess the respective contributions of each factor, and explore potential interactions among them. While all environmental affects were associated with eco-anxiety, only negative affects were significant explaining variables. The level of media exposure was strongly associated with a higher level of eco-anxiety, as was the degree of connectedness to nature. Among the group of most eco-anxious people, while the average level of anxiety is high, a large majority of them paradoxically have zero to mild levels of anxiety in general. Finally, being female, not having children and having a high level of education predisposed to a higher level of eco-anxiety. This study is the first to our knowledge to investigate the link between several factors that influence eco-anxiety. The results suggest that two types of eco-anxious profiles can be distinguished, depending on their baseline level of anxiety. When eco-anxiety is added to an anxiety base, it may increase psychopathological manifestations in the individual. This hypothesis merits further investigation.
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The data supporting the findings of this study are accessible in the figshare repository and can be found by clicking on the following link: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23735592. These data are those used in the analysis and can be freely accessed for replication or further research purposes.
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Appendix
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Participant description
Descriptive statistics of scale scores
Graph of anxiety score distribution among the most eco-anxious participants
Anxiety score distribution among the most eco-anxious participants
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Jalin, H., Sapin, A., Macherey, A. et al. Understanding eco-anxiety: exploring relationships with environmental trait affects, connectedness to nature, depression, anxiety, and media exposure. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06098-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06098-y