Background Climate change is increasingly recognized as a source of significant psychological distress. How can we best minimize its mental health impacts? This study examines community-grounded theories of change by modelling how cognitive, emotional, and social processes shape climate-related psychological distress and adaptation. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed Canadian adults, measuring climate change perceptions (reality, causes, consequences, and psychological distance), climate worry, psychological distress, climate change anxiety, resilience, social support, belonging, and pro-environmental behaviour. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test three theoretically informed models: (1) a cascade from climate perceptions to distress via worry and impairment, (2) a social-ecological model of support, resilience, and belonging, and action and (3) a combined model integrating cognitive, emotional, and social pathways. Results Of 840 participants, 665 completed the survey. The mean sample age was 45·3 years (SD = 18·17). 70·3% identified as women, 18·3% as men, and 11·4% as gender diverse. Model 1 and Model 2 showed excellent fit. Model 3, which had a strong fit, showed that greater climate change perceptions predicted higher climate worry (β = 0·46, p <0·001), which led to greater impairment (β = 0·91, p <0·001), which led to distress (β = 0·32, p <0·001). Greater climate change perceptions had a buffering effect on impairment (β = -0·21, p < 0·001) and predicted distress (β = 0·55, p < 0·001). Stronger social networks predicted increased belonging (β = 0·85, p <0·001) and resilience (β = 0·61, p <0·001), each of which buffered psychological distress (resilience: β = -0·29, p <0·001; belonging: β = -0·06, p = 0·028). Resilience was a buffer against climate change perceptions (β = -0·43, p <0·001) and climate change worry (β = -0·28, p <0·001). Pro-environmental action predicted stronger climate change perceptions and climate worry (perceptions: β = 0·38, p <0·001; worry: β = 0·33, p <0·001). Conclusion These findings support the value of community-based and psychologically informed approaches for minimizing climate-related psychological distress. Interventions that prioritize social support and emotional skills, together with accurate climate communication, may be critical for fostering mental health and collective resilience in a changing climate.
Background Chronic stress exposure has been linked to cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular diseases, but not to coronary artery calcification (CAC). Hair cortisol concentrations is a potential biomarker of chronic stress. Atherosclerosis is the predominant cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of death in developed countries. Coronary artery calcification is a sign of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and predicts coronary heart disease. Most men and women are to some degree affected by coronary artery calcification at the age of 65. Objectives To analyse if increased hair cortisol levels are associated with CAC in a middle-aged population with special focus on women. Further, to analyse the relative importance of HCC for CACs in relation to established cardiovascular risk factors. Methods Hair samples, cardiac computed tomography data, health questionnaires, and anthropometric measures were collected in 4821 men and women aged 50-65 years, from the Swedish Cardio Pulmonary bioImage Study. A competitive radioimmunoassay was used to analyze cortisol levels in extracts of hair. Correlation, descriptive, regression and path analyses were applied. Results A significant association between high HCC and high CAC score was found among women (p=0.007), but not among men. HCC was significantly directly associated with a higher CAC score among women, as were the other classical cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusion The amount of calcified plaque (CAC score) in the coronary arteries of women was significantly associated with higher cortisol levels in hair, while this association was not observed in men.
Background Climate change anxiety is increasingly recognized as a mental health concern, with emerging evidence linking it to poorer well-being and highlighting the need to clarify its cognitive-emotional and functional dimensions. Methods The current research explored the relationship between climate anxiety and mental health outcomes, using a large nationally representative sample. Results The results revealed that climate change anxiety was positively related to negative affect and anger. Climate anxiety cognitive impairment was positively related to positive affect and life satisfaction. However, climate anxiety functional impairment showed a different pattern, being negatively associated with life satisfaction at the bivariate level but no longer remaining a significant predictor once generalized anxiety state and trait were included in the model. Climate change anxiety showed moderate positive correlations with generalized anxiety, both state and trait. Finally, in exploratory cross-sectional mediation models, anger statistically accounted for part of the association between climate change anxiety and both negative affect and life satisfaction, but not positive affect. Conclusion This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the psychological processes involved in climate anxiety and its relation with subjective well-being.
Background Climate change increasingly poses a threat to psychological health. The Domain-Specific Climate Change Distress Scale (DCCDS) was developed to capture climate-related distress across six thematic (ecology, existence, food supply, future generations, society, and wealth) and one generic domain. Building on its theoretical foundation, the present study extends initial validation efforts by providing large-scale psychometric data and normative values, drawing on a large, diverse sample to further substantiate the scale’s psychometric properties and practical utility. Methods We pooled data from seven independent German-speaking samples (N = 894; Mage = 39.2, SD = 13.5; 53% women). We replicated the bifactor S-1 model using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), tested measurement invariance across gender, and estimated a regularized network. Exploratory graph analysis (EGA) served as a dimensionality check. Bootstrap stability analyses and a network comparison test (NCT) assessed the robustness of network indices and gender differences. Results CFA confirmed acceptable fit of the bifactor S-1 model. Metric invariance across gender was fully supported; partial scalar invariance was established after freeing intercepts for three items. In the regularized network, items related to food supply, future generations, and generic climate anxiety showed the highest centrality. EGA identified six stable empirical dimensions, with society and wealth items loading onto a single community. NCT revealed equivalent global network structure across gender. Gender-stratified and age-stratified normative percentiles are provided. Conclusion The DCCDS demonstrates robust psychometric properties across independent samples and is largely measurement-equivalent across gender. Findings support its use for individual diagnostics and group comparisons in climate psychology research and clinical settings. The empirical identification of six rather than seven dimensions further invites reconsideration of the Society and Wealth domain distinction. Normative data facilitate score interpretation in applied settings.
Introduction Doomscrolling refers to a problematic pattern of compulsive engagement with negative or distressing news, particularly through social media, which may be difficult to interrupt despite its adverse emotional consequences, such as high distress and low well-being levels. However, more research is required to explain the link between doomscrolling and mental health in the context of other phenomena related to addiction-like behavior, such as problematic social media use (PSMU) and fear of missing out (FOMO). This study examines for assessing doomscrolling in the Polish cultural setting associations between doomscrolling, maladaptive media use and mental health dimensions. Methods The total sample of 585 adults aged 18 to 79 ( M = 27.66, SD = 10.37), including 49% men, participated in the cross-sectional study. The sample was divided into Sample 1 ( n = 291) and Sample 2 ( n = 294) to examine structural validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. The following tools were used to assess criterion validity: Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Fear of Missing Out scale (FOMO), the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Results Both EFA and CFA revealed a one-factor structure for the DS-15, with a single factor explaining 65% of the variance in doomscrolling. Reliability of the DS-15 was 0.96 for Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω, in both samples, and an adequate fit to the data in Sample 2, including χ 2 / df = 2.44, SRMR = 0.042, RMSEA = 0.070 (95% CI = 0.029; 0.112), and CFI = 0.964. Although EFA yielded a one-factor solution for the brief 4-item version of the scale (DS-4), the fit indices were unacceptable in CFA. Doomscrolling, assessed by the DS-15, was negatively related to life satisfaction and positively related to daily smartphone and social media use, PSMU, FOMO, distress symptoms, and self-rated socioeconomic status. No relationships were found between doomscrolling and age, gender, and education levels. Conclusions The unidimensional DS-15 is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing doomscrolling in Polish-language samples. It is not recommended to use the short version of the Doomscrolling Scale.
