The emotional burden of climate awareness: Climate anxiety as a pathway to health anxiety

This study examined the relationships among climate change awareness, climate change anxiety, health anxiety, and sustainable behaviors, and investigated the mediating role of climate change anxiety in these relationships. Using a quantitative correlational design, data were collected through an online survey from 352 participants aged 18–35 living in Turkey (56.3% female, 42.9% male). Participants completed validated scales measuring climate change awareness, climate change anxiety, health anxiety, and sustainable consumption behaviors. Spearman’s rho correlations revealed weak but significant positive associations between climate change awareness and climate change anxiety (ρ = .298, p < .001) and between climate change anxiety and health anxiety (ρ = .271, p < .001). However, climate change awareness was not significantly associated with health anxiety (ρ = .063, p = .235), nor were climate change anxiety (ρ = .035, p = .513) or health anxiety (ρ = .003, p = .955) related to sustainable behaviors. Mediation analysis indicated that climate change awareness did not directly predict health anxiety (β = .003, p = .936), but it significantly predicted climate change anxiety (β = .32, p < .001), which in turn predicted health anxiety (β = .16, p < .001). The indirect effect was significant (β = .052, 95% CI [.029, .079]), indicating a full mediating role of climate change anxiety. In contrast, climate change anxiety did not mediate the relationship between climate change awareness and sustainable behaviors (β = –.05, p = .17; indirect effect β = .019, 95% CI [−.044, .005]). These findings suggest that climate change awareness has both informative and emotionally burdensome qualities. While increased awareness may elevate psychological distress through climate anxiety, the transition to sustainable behaviors does not appear to occur solely through anxiety.