The Czech Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13): Construct Validity, Factor Structure, and Measurement Invariance in a Population-Based Sample

Eco-anxiety has emerged as an important construct in environmental psychology. The Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13), which consists of 13 items, is a multidimensional instrument designed to assess affective symptoms, rumination, behavioral responses, and anxiety related to environmental issues. This study examined the psychometric properties of the HEAS-13 in a general population sample from Czechia. The study assessed the scale’s validity in relation to generalized anxiety and self-reported housing damage associated with adverse weather-related events. Data were collected by conducting face-to-face interviews with a population-based sample in Czechia (n = 1027), with respondents selected using address-based sampling. The psychometric evaluation included descriptive statistics, an internal consistency analysis, inter-item correlations, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on principal axis factoring with oblimin rotation, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a Weighted Least Squares Mean and Variance (WLSMV) estimator appropriate for ordinal indicators, and convergent, discriminant, and known-groups validity testing. The HEAS-13 demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.962; McDonald’s omega = 0.958 for the total scale). EFA supported the original four-factor structure and CFA showed a good fit of the original model. Score distributions were positively skewed, and substantial floor effects indicated generally low levels of eco-anxiety symptom endorsement in the general population. The HEAS-13 total score was strongly correlated with the GAD-7 (rho = 0.839) supporting convergence with generalized anxiety, but also indicating possible construct overlap. Known-groups validity was supported by higher HEAS-13 scores among respondents reporting hazard-related home damage. Measurement invariance was examined across sex and age groups. The HEAS-13 appears to be a reliable and structurally well-fitted instrument for assessing multidimensional eco-anxiety in population-based research. The results provide evidence that the construct is meaningfully associated with generalized anxiety and experience of environmentally disruptive events. The HEAS-13 may serve as a useful tool for future research on environmental distress and climate- and environment-related mental health. It may also be useful for studies examining risk perception as an explanatory, associated, or contextual variable.