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Women and young people most likely to experience climate anxiety, study finds

Psychologists at Leipzig University and TU Dortmund University have, for the first time, brought together international research findings on the phenomenon of climate anxiety. They found that certain groups are more prone to climate anxiety than others.

These include, above all, younger people, women, individuals with more left-leaning political views, people with deep concerns about the future and the environment, and those frequently exposed to the consequences of climate change and related information.

The researchers have just published the of their meta-analysis in the journal Global Environmental Change.

According to the study, the belief that climate change is a real threat and entails significant risks, as well as the perceived consensus among climate scientists on the causes and dangers of global warming, are also closely associated with climate anxiety.

"It correlates negatively with well-being, but climate anxiety is also positively linked to both individual and collective environmentally friendly behavior and support for climate policy measures," says the paper's lead author, Dr. Clara Kühner of the Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology at Leipzig University.

The climate crisis and its consequences are frightening for many people. Accordingly, climate anxiety—that is, fears and worries related to climate change—is attracting growing public interest and is increasingly the subject of research. "However, the existing literature is spread across various disciplines and has not yet been summarized quantitatively," says the psychologist.

This new meta-analysis, which examines the relationship between climate anxiety and 33 other constructs, is intended to give researchers and practitioners an overview of the potential effects and likelihood of climate anxiety occurring. The analysis included 94 primary studies with a total of 170,747 participants from 27 countries.

According to Kühner, the observed correlations varied in part depending on how climate anxiety was measured. The quality of the primary studies also played a role, with some relationships appearing stronger in higher-quality studies. The researchers also found that climate anxiety is conceptually distinct from general, non-climate-related anxiety—making it a phenomenon in its own right.

"The findings suggest that climate anxiety is a double-edged sword. It can impair well-being, but it can also serve as a driver for climate action," says co-author Professor Hannes Zacher of Leipzig University.

Rather than dismissing legitimate concerns about climate change, public figures such as politicians, journalists and business leaders should help people channel climate anxiety into the urgently needed action to tackle the climate crisis. The researchers recommend targeted support for those who are particularly prone to climate anxiety, such as young people or those frequently confronted with the issue.

Given the strong public and academic interest in climate anxiety, and the continued publication of primary studies on the topic, the meta-analysis will be updated regularly with new data in the coming years. Some of the findings will also be explored in more depth—for example, the still unclear relationship between knowledge about climate change and climate anxiety.

Almost three-quarters of the studies included in the analysis were conducted in the Global North. However, the Global South is likely to be even more severely affected by climate change, meaning that the potential predictors and consequences of climate anxiety may differ in these regions. The researchers therefore argue that more research is needed on climate anxiety in countries of the Global South.