Anxiety in response to the climate and environmental crises: validation of the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale in Germany

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Michael Eichinger¹  Michael Neuber²  Jan Keller³  Michael Schulte-Hutner³  Myriam Bechtoldt⁴  Shuyan Liu⁵  Gerhard Reese⁶  Felix Peter⁷  Stephan Heinzel⁸  Carina Pohle⁹  Mira Tschorn^1,10  Fabian Schäfer^1,11 

[1] Center for Preventive Medicine and Digital Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany;Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany;Center for Technology and Society, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany;Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany;Department of Management, EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Oestrich-Winkel, Germany;Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (CCM), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany;Department of Psychology, RPTU Kaiserslautern Landau, Campus Landau, Landau, Germany;Department of School Psychology, State School Administration of Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale), Germany;Institute of Psychology, Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany;Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany;Klimabildung e.V., Bochum, Germany;Social and Preventive Medicine, Department of Sports and Health Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany;Sustainable Development, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany;Klimabildung e.V., Bochum, Germany;

关键词: environmental crisis;    climate crisis;    climate change;    eco-anxiety;    climate anxiety;    Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1239425

 received in 2023-06-14, accepted in 2023-09-04,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAs the climate and environmental crises unfold, eco-anxiety, defined as anxiety about the crises’ devastating consequences for life on earth, affects mental health worldwide. Despite its importance, research on eco-anxiety is currently limited by a lack of validated assessment instruments available in different languages. Recently, Hogg and colleagues proposed a multidimensional approach to assess eco-anxiety. Here, we aim to translate the original English Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS) into German and to assess its reliability and validity in a German sample.MethodsFollowing the TRAPD (translation, review, adjudication, pre-test, documentation) approach, we translated the original English scale into German. In total, 486 participants completed the German HEAS. We used Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess whether the four-factorial model of the original English version could be replicated in the German sample. Furthermore, associations with a variety of emotional reactions towards the climate crisis, general depression, anxiety, and stress were investigated.ResultsThe German HEAS was internally consistent (Cronbach’s alphas 0.71–0.86) and the Bayesian CFA showed that model fit was best for the four-factorial model, comparable to the factorial structure of the original English scale (affective symptoms, rumination, behavioral symptoms, anxiety about personal impact). Weak to moderate associations were found with negative emotional reactions towards the climate crisis and with general depression, anxiety, and stress.DiscussionOur results support the original four-factorial model of the scale and indicate that the German HEAS is a reliable and valid scale to assess eco-anxiety in German speaking populations.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Heinzel, Tschorn, Schulte-Hutner, Schäfer, Reese, Pohle, Peter, Neuber, Liu, Keller, Eichinger and Bechtoldt.