Climate on Your Mind – Young People's Strategies for Coping with Ecological Crises in a Multinational Survey

Climate change and environmental crises are causing significant emotional distress for young people around the world. This can have negative mental health impacts or motivate people to take action, depending on how young people cope with these issues. This project aims to test a new questionnaire called Eco-COPE, which measures different ways young people (ages 15–25) deal with ecological distress. Researchers are validating this tool across 14 European countries, with translations in Albanian, Armenian, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, and Turkish. The goal is to ensure the questionnaire works reliably across different cultures so scientists can meaningfully compare coping strategies between countries. Understanding these patterns helps identify which coping methods protect mental health versus those that might increase distress, and could inform support programs for youth facing climate anxiety.