Engaging in collective action empowers young adults to deal with climate change anxiety.
- In September 2021, a study published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health found that 84% of teens and young adults said they were worried about climate change and more than half felt angry, guilty or helpless.
“A growing body of research has documented the phenomenon of eco-anxiety, defined as negative cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses associated with concerns about climate change. However, there are few studies that determine whether environmental engagement in individual and collective action in favor of the climate could mitigate” symptoms, according to a team of American researchers. This is why they decided to carry out works, including the results were published in the journal Current Psychology February 28.
For the purposes of their study, they interviewed 284 American students about their eco-anxiety and the actions they take to fight climate change. In this research, the authors indicated that individual actions corresponded to recycling or turning off the lights at home. For collective actions, it was about participating in demonstrations and raising awareness about this fight.
More effective than individual actions
The results found that engaging in collective action, but not individual action, significantly attenuated the association between cognitive and emotional impairment in eco-anxiety and symptoms of major depressive disorder. Researchers believed that acting on a collective scale could foster a powerful sense of hope and connection with a community. This can help alleviate anxiety and symptoms of depression.
“Answers to open-ended questions about participants’ concerns and actions regarding climate change indicated the seriousness of their fears and, for some, the perception of the insignificance of their actions in relation to the enormity of climate change,” can we read in the works.
Create opportunities
According to the scientists, their findings suggest the importance of creating opportunities for collective action for young adults. “We really think about the sense of social support and togetherness that students experience when they engage in collective action. They are with a group of like-minded people that they can discuss and address their feelings of anxiety about to climate change and not have this feeling of sadness, despair or isolation”, said Sarah Lowe, a professor at the Yale School of Public Health and lead author of the study, in a statement.
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