Pro-environmental behaviors and eco-anxiety among Italian adolescents: national survey and intervention on climate change awareness

Contact person: Stefania Bruno

Short title: CLIMATE CHANGE

Call: PRIN 2022 - 2022 CALL

Project Code: PRIN 2022N22J5F

Start date: 16/10/2023

End Date: -

Coordinator: -

Funding body: Ministry of University and Research

Link: -

Abstract: Climate change is a phenomenon that affects both the planet and human health. It is, in fact, one of the main fields of interest of a new area of research: Planetary Health. It is an interdisciplinary subject focused on the characterization and quantification of the impacts on human health of the damage caused by human activities on natural systems. While the consequences of climate change on physical health are widely present in the literature, the impacts on mental health are less studied, although recent studies indicate their increasing presence: eco-anxiety represents the most common type of emotional stress. Research in this area in Italy is scarce, as well as there is a lack of school programs that provide strategies and behaviors to deal with eco-anxiety and other psychological consequences of climate change. 
The project has a twofold objective:
1. to evaluate the levels of eco-anxiety (i.e. the chronic fear of environmental ruin) and the presence of pro-environmental behaviors before and after a specific educational intervention, focused on climate change and its consequences, in a sample of Italian middle and high school students;
2. to spread knowledge of the effects of climate change on the psychological well-being of adolescents among stakeholders, health professionals and school teachers and to launch a message on the relevance of this issue for national mental health prevention policies aimed at young people.