A rapidly growing research base is emerging around psychological responses to climate change, showing emotional and functional impairments. The concept of “climate change anxiety” (CCA) is still being developed, and more research is needed to explore how it interacts with mental health, particularly in youth. This study aimed to explore the degree to which CCA differentiates from other mental health problems in youth. As a secondary aim, this study also explored how CCA relates to transdiagnostic mental health factors. An anonymous online survey recruited a volunteer sample of youth aged 16–24 in the UK. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) explored the underlying structure of CCA alongside depression and generalised anxiety. The best fitting model was expanded on as a structural equation model to explore relationships with the transdiagnostic factors. The best fitting CFA model was found to be a three-factor model, suggesting that CCA, depression and generalised anxiety are not best represented as a unidimensional construct, but as three separate domains. CCA had moderate positive correlations with depression and generalised anxiety. The transdiagnostic factors were found to have weak relationships with CCA, whilst they had stronger relationships with depression and generalised anxiety. Taken together, these results suggest that CCA differentiates from other mental health problems in youth. Alternative approaches for understanding and supporting youth with climate anxiety in line with current theory and research are discussed.
Veillard et al. (Sun,) studied this question.