article · International Journal of Social Psychiatry
This research investigated the connection between climate change anxiety and psychotic experiences among young adults in Lebanon. Drawing on the stress-vulnerability model of psychosis, the investigation surveyed individuals aged 18 to 35 to evaluate whether death anxiety mediates this psychological relationship. The analysis revealed that higher levels of climate change anxiety were directly and significantly linked to an increase in psychotic experiences. Furthermore, death anxiety acted as a partial mediator in this association, meaning that elevated climate change anxiety corresponded with greater death anxiety, which in turn related to more frequent psychotic experiences. The findings indicate that psychological interventions focusing on death anxiety could potentially help lessen the link between anxiety related to climate change and psychotic symptoms. Consequently, government decision-makers are encouraged to integrate mental health considerations regarding climate change into broader policy frameworks.
As global climate concerns grow, understanding how environmental stress affects severe mental health outcomes becomes increasingly critical. Demonstrating that death anxiety links climate anxiety to psychotic experiences provides healthcare professionals and policymakers with specific psychological mechanisms to consider when developing mental health support strategies and public health policies for young populations.
This work represents early-stage cross-sectional research rather than a commercial product. The findings could potentially inform the development of clinical mental health therapies, preventative psychological programmes, or public health policies designed for young adults experiencing climate-related distress. However, the abstract does not indicate a direct commercial application pathway or specific technology ready for deployment.
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BACKGROUND: As climate change persists, accelerates, and intensifies, and since mitigating factors are absent, mental health impacts are expected to follow the same patterns. Therefore, it appears of utmost importance to deepen and broaden the knowledge and understanding of how and through which mechanisms climate change anxiety (CCA) may interplay with mental health outcomes. Based on the stress-vulnerability model of psychosis, the present study proposed to examine the relationship between CCA and psychotic experiences (PEs), and to test the theoretically-driven hypothesis that death anxiety acts as a mediator in this relationship. METHOD: This study adopted a cross-sectional approach involving a sample of young adults aged 18 to 35 years (mean age = 24.56 ± 22.49 years; 63.9% females) originating from, and residing in Lebanon. RESULTS: The results of the mediation analysis showed that death anxiety partially mediated the association between CCA and PEs. Higher CCA was significantly associated with higher death anxiety; higher death anxiety was significantly associated with more PEs. Finally, higher CCA was directly and significantly associated with more PEs. CONCLUSION: Drawing from the present preliminary findings, the key tentative recommendation is that addressing death anxiety might alleviate the association between CCA and PEs. In addition, government decision-makers need to recognize the necessity of considering climate change implications on mental health in policy and decision-making.
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DOI: 10.1177/00207640231221102
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