Eco-anxiety among university students: institutional support, sustainable action and psychological resilience

Purpose Eco-anxiety (EA) is now a prevalent form of climate-related distress among university students, yet most evidence has been generated in the Global North. Drawing on the self-determination theory (SDT) and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine how perceived institutional support relates to EA in a climate-vulnerable Global South setting. We test whether engagement in sustainable lifestyle practices mediates this relationship and whether psychological resilience moderates the link between sustainable practices and EA. Design/methodology/approach We surveyed a total of 539 students enrolled in public and private universities in Bangladesh and tested the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Perceived institutional support is associated with lower EA. Engagement in sustainable lifestyle practices partially mediates this association, identifying a behavioral pathway through which institutional support relates to lower EA. Psychological resilience moderates the link between sustainable practices and EA: the association is stronger among students reporting higher resilience. We find no significant differences across gender or institutional type. Originality/value We integrate institutional support, behavioral engagement and individual psychological resources into a single model and test it in a climate-vulnerable Global South higher-education setting. The behavioral-pathway evidence extends prior EA research that has examined institutional and individual factors in isolation, and shows that the strength of this pathway depends on personal resilience.