Climate change distress and impairment in Germany
IntroductionClimate change has been widely recognized as one of the most challenging problems facing humanity and it imposes serious mental health threats. It is important, however, to differentiate between the affective experience of distress over climate change and the functional impairments assoc...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1432881/full |
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| author | Lars König Lars König Priska Breves Gesa Alena Linnemann Tim Hamer Ralf Suhr Ralf Suhr |
| author_facet | Lars König Lars König Priska Breves Gesa Alena Linnemann Tim Hamer Ralf Suhr Ralf Suhr |
| author_sort | Lars König |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionClimate change has been widely recognized as one of the most challenging problems facing humanity and it imposes serious mental health threats. It is important, however, to differentiate between the affective experience of distress over climate change and the functional impairments associated with climate change. Such a distinction is crucial because not all negative affective states are pathological, and they might even motivate pro-environmental behavior. Functional impairments, like not being able to work or maintaining social relationships, however, might require immediate treatment. This study assesses climate change distress and climate change impairment within the population of Germany using a population-representative sample. The results identify vulnerable subgroups and thereby can help to facilitate the development of target group specific intervention programs. Furthermore, this study explores whether climate change distress and climate change impairment are associated with general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors.MethodsStudy participants were drawn from a panel which is representative of the German-speaking population in Germany with Internet access. Participants answered a series of questionnaires regarding their climate change distress, climate change impairment, general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors. To evaluate differences between subgroups, Bayesian independent samples t-tests were calculated. To evaluate associations between constructs, Bayesian correlations were calculated.ResultsEspecially women, younger people, people from West Germany, and people with a high level of formal education seem to experience higher levels of climate change distress. Regarding climate change impairment, the results suggest that especially women, older people, people from West Germany, people with a low level of formal education, people with a low or middle social status, and people with an inadequate/problematic health literacy seem to experience higher levels of climate change impairment. Furthermore, climate change distress and climate change impairment were weakly and differently associated with general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors.DiscussionClimate change distress and impairment are not evenly distributed within German society. The results of this study provide a starting point for the development of target group specific intervention programs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-84831f307e924453a7c8cbce91ebbed3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-84831f307e924453a7c8cbce91ebbed32025-08-20T01:54:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-09-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.14328811432881Climate change distress and impairment in GermanyLars König0Lars König1Priska Breves2Gesa Alena Linnemann3Tim Hamer4Ralf Suhr5Ralf Suhr6Stiftung Gesundheitswissen, Berlin, GermanyInstitut für Medizinische Soziologie und Rehabilitationswissenschaft, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, GermanyAmsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsFachbereich Gesundheit, Katholische Hochschule Nordrhein-Westfalen, Cologne, GermanyStiftung Gesundheitswissen, Berlin, GermanyStiftung Gesundheitswissen, Berlin, GermanyInstitut für Medizinische Soziologie und Rehabilitationswissenschaft, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, GermanyIntroductionClimate change has been widely recognized as one of the most challenging problems facing humanity and it imposes serious mental health threats. It is important, however, to differentiate between the affective experience of distress over climate change and the functional impairments associated with climate change. Such a distinction is crucial because not all negative affective states are pathological, and they might even motivate pro-environmental behavior. Functional impairments, like not being able to work or maintaining social relationships, however, might require immediate treatment. This study assesses climate change distress and climate change impairment within the population of Germany using a population-representative sample. The results identify vulnerable subgroups and thereby can help to facilitate the development of target group specific intervention programs. Furthermore, this study explores whether climate change distress and climate change impairment are associated with general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors.MethodsStudy participants were drawn from a panel which is representative of the German-speaking population in Germany with Internet access. Participants answered a series of questionnaires regarding their climate change distress, climate change impairment, general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors. To evaluate differences between subgroups, Bayesian independent samples t-tests were calculated. To evaluate associations between constructs, Bayesian correlations were calculated.ResultsEspecially women, younger people, people from West Germany, and people with a high level of formal education seem to experience higher levels of climate change distress. Regarding climate change impairment, the results suggest that especially women, older people, people from West Germany, people with a low level of formal education, people with a low or middle social status, and people with an inadequate/problematic health literacy seem to experience higher levels of climate change impairment. Furthermore, climate change distress and climate change impairment were weakly and differently associated with general health, physical health, mental health, and diverse health behaviors.DiscussionClimate change distress and impairment are not evenly distributed within German society. The results of this study provide a starting point for the development of target group specific intervention programs.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1432881/fullclimate changedistressGermanyhealthimpairmentmental health |
| spellingShingle | Lars König Lars König Priska Breves Gesa Alena Linnemann Tim Hamer Ralf Suhr Ralf Suhr Climate change distress and impairment in Germany Frontiers in Public Health climate change distress Germany health impairment mental health |
| title | Climate change distress and impairment in Germany |
| title_full | Climate change distress and impairment in Germany |
| title_fullStr | Climate change distress and impairment in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate change distress and impairment in Germany |
| title_short | Climate change distress and impairment in Germany |
| title_sort | climate change distress and impairment in germany |
| topic | climate change distress Germany health impairment mental health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1432881/full |
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