Dynamics of eco-anxiety: How young people cope with eco-anxiety in different contexts to maintain mental health and engage in environmental action over time

Climate change and other environmental problems increasingly cause eco-anxiety, especially in young people.

While this is a rational response to existential crises and often drives environmental action, it may also lead to impairments in mental health.

However, little is known about how exactly eco-anxiety relates to environmental action and impairment, how young people cope with eco-anxiety, what contextual factors influence those relations, and how they vary over time.

The project aims to shed light on such dynamics of eco-anxiety in young people by investigating 1) How young people’s eco-anxiety is shaped by contexts, 2) how eco-anxiety and different ways of coping with it vary over time, and 3) how research on eco-anxiety, emotion regulation and coping, and sustainability transitions can feed into a comprehensive conceptual framework on the dynamics of eco-anxiety in young people.

Employing a mixed-methods approach, the proposed project combines a literature review, two empirical studies with Swedish high-school students (survey and in-depth interviews & intervention study with quantitative modeling), and theory building.

Understanding the dynamics of eco-anxiety in young people will contribute to empowering young people to be resilient, maintain mental health and engage in environmental action.

Findings will contribute to scientific discourse and may inform interventions, and guide policy recommendations to support young people in navigating eco-anxiety.