Examining the Association Between Climate Worry and Psychological Distress in Canadian Youth

Abstract

Young people are highly susceptible to the development of mental illnesses, which may be measured through psychological distress scores. Mental illnesses in youth may vary by gender as cis-gendered girls and gender minorities are more likely to experience mental illnesses than their cis-gendered boy counterparts. Within Canada, one in four youth meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental illness regardless of gender. While effects of climate change and associated health outcomes are experienced by diverse populations, these outcomes are particularly concerning pertaining to youth as they will inherit the environment in its current state. One factor that may be associated with increases in psychological distress is that of climate worry: the feelings of worry or fear associated with the ongoing climate change crisis. However, climate worry remains a novel topic with limited existing literature. For youth, climate worry may result in negative emotions including worry, fear, or sadness attributed to their concern for the worsening global climate. Youth are likely to access information regarding climate change through online channels, prompting interest in screen time as a covariate. Climate worry may also be associated with difficulties in focus on daily tasks and may impact sleep due to excessive worry, as well as causing a sense of responsibility to “act.” These concerns are measured through the climate worry section of the Compass Questionnaire. The objective of this thesis was to examine whether climate worry is associated with psychological distress among youth in the COMPASS Study, and whether selected covariates impact this association using linear regression modelling. This thesis used data from the 2022/23 Compass Study cohort of 31,042 high school students from across Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec, Canada. Findings from this study support the hypothesis that climate worry is associated with psychological distress in Canadian youth. Across all genders, the mean psychological distress score was 18.3 (std. dev. 12.1, p = <0.05) and the mean climate worry score was 9.0 (std. dev. 1.9, p = <0.05). The results of this study show that as scores of climate worry increase, scores of psychological distress also increase (Beta = 0.7, p = <0.05). Gender-stratified models were run to ascertain differences in the experience of climate worry and psychological distress for cis-gendered boys, cis-gendered girls, and gender diverse individuals. Results of this thesis reveal that climate worry is modestly associated with increases in psychological distress and may be used to inform future research on the associations between climate worry and psychological distress. Future studies should aim to explore potential causal pathways for the inception of climate worry (e.g., media literacy and climate worry rooted in media use), and outcomes of climate worry (e.g., psychological distress, anxious, or depressive symptoms).