Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation
The climate change emergency is one of the most important challenges of our time, and its impact on mental health has been evident for years. It is very important for clinicians to delve deeper into these manifestations. There are a wide variety of constructs, symptoms, and scales to measure the imp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/255 |
| _version_ | 1797242022758711296 |
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| author | Luisa Orrù Federica Taccini Stefania Mannarini |
| author_facet | Luisa Orrù Federica Taccini Stefania Mannarini |
| author_sort | Luisa Orrù |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The climate change emergency is one of the most important challenges of our time, and its impact on mental health has been evident for years. It is very important for clinicians to delve deeper into these manifestations. There are a wide variety of constructs, symptoms, and scales to measure the impact of climate change on mental health. Eco-anxiety is one of the constructs that has specifically emerged, in association with worry, about the future. In mental health studies, it is important to explore the relationship between eco-anxiety and emotion regulation and how much this relationship leads to worry about the future in order to be able to offer clinical intervention recommendations. Indeed, the hypothesis of this study is that it is possible to develop worries about the future when symptoms of eco-anxiety and a poor ability to regulate emotions are present. Particularly, emotion dysregulation could increase eco-anxiety symptoms and generate worries about one’s own future. For this reason, we have chosen to explore the relationships between these three constructs with the use of a mediation analysis. For this research, 351 participants were recruited in Italy. The proposed mediation model highlighted the findings that emotion dysregulation was positively related with eco-anxiety and that eco-anxiety predicts worry about the future. An association between emotion dysregulation and worry about the future was present. Eco-anxiety appeared to be an important mediator between emotional dysregulation and worry about the future. Emotion regulation could play a pivotal role in addressing concerns about the future. These findings could pave the way for exploring new research avenues and potential clinical interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:32:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b56c88d2a2804aa38355639801482b5b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:32:37Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b56c88d2a2804aa38355639801482b5b2024-03-27T13:21:38ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-03-0114325510.3390/bs14030255Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion RegulationLuisa Orrù0Federica Taccini1Stefania Mannarini2Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, ItalyDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, ItalyDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, ItalyThe climate change emergency is one of the most important challenges of our time, and its impact on mental health has been evident for years. It is very important for clinicians to delve deeper into these manifestations. There are a wide variety of constructs, symptoms, and scales to measure the impact of climate change on mental health. Eco-anxiety is one of the constructs that has specifically emerged, in association with worry, about the future. In mental health studies, it is important to explore the relationship between eco-anxiety and emotion regulation and how much this relationship leads to worry about the future in order to be able to offer clinical intervention recommendations. Indeed, the hypothesis of this study is that it is possible to develop worries about the future when symptoms of eco-anxiety and a poor ability to regulate emotions are present. Particularly, emotion dysregulation could increase eco-anxiety symptoms and generate worries about one’s own future. For this reason, we have chosen to explore the relationships between these three constructs with the use of a mediation analysis. For this research, 351 participants were recruited in Italy. The proposed mediation model highlighted the findings that emotion dysregulation was positively related with eco-anxiety and that eco-anxiety predicts worry about the future. An association between emotion dysregulation and worry about the future was present. Eco-anxiety appeared to be an important mediator between emotional dysregulation and worry about the future. Emotion regulation could play a pivotal role in addressing concerns about the future. These findings could pave the way for exploring new research avenues and potential clinical interventions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/255eco-anxietyclinical interventionworry about the futuremental healthemergencyemotion dysregulation |
| spellingShingle | Luisa Orrù Federica Taccini Stefania Mannarini Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation Behavioral Sciences eco-anxiety clinical intervention worry about the future mental health emergency emotion dysregulation |
| title | Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation |
| title_full | Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation |
| title_fullStr | Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation |
| title_short | Worry about the Future in the Climate Change Emergency: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Eco-Anxiety and Emotion Regulation |
| title_sort | worry about the future in the climate change emergency a mediation analysis of the role of eco anxiety and emotion regulation |
| topic | eco-anxiety clinical intervention worry about the future mental health emergency emotion dysregulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/255 |
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