Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Prevalence, magnitude and distribution of climate change anxiety in Canada: an interdisciplinary study

Nature Mental Health volume 3, pages 1384–1394 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Although feeling anxious can be a normal and healthy response to climate change, more severe forms of climate change anxiety can reach clinical relevance, persist for long periods of time and impact daily functioning. Here we leveraged the disciplinary strengths of psychology and epidemiology to examine these more severe manifestations of climate change anxiety in Canada. Using a national population-based cross-sectional survey—using a multistage, multistratified random probability sampling method—we applied the Climate Change Anxiety Scale and collected sociodemographic data (n = 2,476). The prevalence of climate change anxiety (symptoms that reach clinical relevance) was 2.35% (95% confidence interval 1.49–3.68%). Across demographic groups, the prevalence of climate change anxiety was the highest among Indigenous Peoples; prevalence estimates were also relatively elevated for women, those living in Northern Canada and those with household incomes <$60,000 CAD per year. Our interdisciplinary approach permitted more accurate prevalence estimates than in previous studies that use convenience samples globally.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Climate Change Anxiety Scale.
Fig. 2: Climate change anxiety in Canada.
Fig. 3: Participant responses to the Climate Change Anxiety Scale items in Canada.
Fig. 4: Climate change anxiety, climate change-related cognitive consequences, climate change-related rumination and climate change-related functional impairment.
Fig. 5: Change anxiety, climate change-related cognitive consequences, climate change-related rumination and climate change-related functional impairment by province/territory.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available owing to reasons of sensitivity, the fact that survey respondents did not give consent for their data to be shared publicly and the procedures outlined in the research protocol approved by the research ethics board.

References

  1. Pihkala, P. Toward a taxonomy of climate emotions. Front. Clim. 3, 1–22 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Cissé, G. et al. in Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (eds Pörtner, H. -O. et al.) (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press. 2022).

  3. Brophy, H., Olson, J. & Paul, P. Eco-anxiety in youth: an integrative literature review. Int. J. Ment. Health Nurs. 32, 633–661 (2023).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Coffey, Y., Bhullar, N., Durkin, J., Islam, M. S. & Usher, K. Understanding eco-anxiety: a systematic scoping review of current literature and identified knowledge gaps. J. Clim. Change Health 3, 100047 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gago, T., Sargisson, R. J. & Milfont, T. L. A meta-analysis on the relationship between climate anxiety and wellbeing. J. Environ. Psychol. 94, 102230 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Soutar, C. & Wand, A. P. F. Understanding the spectrum of anxiety responses to climate change: a systematic review of the qualitative literature. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19, 990 (2022).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Aylward, B. et al. Headlining mental health in a changing climate: a systematic analysis of climate change and mental health news coverage from Canada and the United States. Environ. Res. Health 2, 031001 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cunsolo, A. et al. Ecological grief and anxiety: the start of a healthy response to climate change?. Lancet Planet. Health 4, e261–e263 (2020).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ojala, M., Cunsolo, A., Ogunbode, C. A. & Middleton, J. Anxiety, worry, and grief in a time of environmental and climate crisis: a narrative review. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 46, 35–58 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Clayton, S. & Karazsia, B. T. Development and validation of a measure of climate change anxiety. J. Environ. Psychol. 69, 101434 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kurth, C. & Pihkala, P. Eco-anxiety: what it is and why it matters. Front. Psychol. 13, 1–13 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sangervo, J., Jylhä, K. M. & Pihkala, P. Climate anxiety: conceptual considerations, and connections with climate hope and action. Glob. Environ. Change 76, 102569 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Cosh, S. M., Williams, S. E., Lykins, A. D., Bartik, W. & Tully, P. J. Detecting and classifying eco-anxiety: development of clinical cut-off scores for the climate change anxiety scale. BMC Psychol. 12, 738 (2024).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Coffey, R., Benham, B., Kline, K., Wolfe, M. L. & Cummins, E. Modeling the impacts of climate change and future land use variation on microbial transport. J. Water Clim. Change 6, 449–471 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Whitmarsh, L. et al. Climate anxiety: what predicts it and how is it related to climate action?. J. Environ. Psychol. 83, 101866 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ogunbode, C. A. et al. Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action: correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries. J. Environ. Psychol. 84, 101887 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Dodds, J. The psychology of climate anxiety. BJPsych Bull. 45, 222–226 (2021).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Tam, K. P., Chan, H. W. & Clayton, S. Climate change anxiety in China, India, Japan, and the United States. J. Environ. Psychol. 87, 101991 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Innocenti, M. et al. Psychometric properties of the Italian version of the climate change anxiety scale. J. Clim. Change Health 3, 100080 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Jang, S. J., Chung, S. J. & Lee, H. Validation of the climate change anxiety scale for Korean adults. Perspect. Psychiatr. Care 2023, 9718834 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Larionow, P. et al. Climate change anxiety assessment: the psychometric properties of the polish version of the Climate Anxiety Scale. Front. Psychol. 13, 870392 (2022).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Mouguiama-Daouda, C., Blanchard, M. A., Coussement, C. & Heeren, A. On the measurement of climate change anxiety: French validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale. Psychol. Belg. 62, 123–135 (2022).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Wullenkord, M. C., Tröger, J., Hamann, K. R. S., Loy, L. S. & Reese, G. Anxiety and climate change: a validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-speaking quota sample and an investigation of psychological correlates. Clim. Change 168, 20 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Ramírez-López, A. S., Rosetti, M. F. & Poma, A. Gender, exposure to news, knowledge about climate change, and prosociality predict climate anxiety scores in Mexican students. Ecopsychology 15, 184–192 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Zacher, H. & Rudolph, C. W. Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety. Clim. Change. 176, 32 (2023).

  26. Keiding, N. & Louis, T. A. Perils and potentials of self-selected entry to epidemiological studies and surveys. 179, 319–376 (2016)

  27. Cunsolo Willox, A. et al. Rigolet Inuit Community Government. The land enriches the soul: on climatic and environmental change, affect, and emotional health and well-being in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada. Emot. Space Soc. 6, 14–24 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Cunsolo Willox, A. et al. ‘From this place and of this place:’ climate change, sense of place, and health in Nunatsiavut, Canada. Soc. Sci. Med. 75, 538–547 (2012).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Middleton, J. et al. ‘We’re people of the snow:’ weather, climate change, and Inuit mental wellness. Soc. Sci. Med. 262, 113137 (2020).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Cunsolo Willox, A. et al. Climate change and mental health: an exploratory case study from Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada. Clim. Change 121, 255–270 (2013).

  31. Galway, L. P. & Beery, T. Exploring climate emotions in Canada’s provincial north. Front. Psychol. 13, 920313 (2022).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Galway, L. P. & Field, E. Climate emotions and anxiety among young people in Canada: a national survey and call to action. J. Clim. Change Health 9, 100204 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Bratu, A. et al. The 2021 Western North American heat dome increased climate change anxiety among British Columbians: results from a natural experiment. J. Clim. Change Health 6, 100116 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Middleton, J. et al. Temperature and place associations with Inuit mental health in the context of climate change. Environ. Res. 198, 111166 (2021).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Moosavi, S. et al. Mental health effects in primary care patients 18 months after a major wildfire in Fort McMurray: risk increased by social demographic issues, clinical antecedents, and degree of fire exposure. Front. Psychiatry 10, 683 (2019).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R. & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. Rumination reconsidered: a psychometric analysis. Cognit. Ther. Res. 27, 247–259 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Pelletier, L., O’Donnell, S., McRae, L. & Grenier, J. The burden of generalized anxiety disorder in Canada. Health Promot. Chronic Dis. Prev. Can. 37, 54–62 (2017).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Taillieu, T. L. et al. Risk factors, clinical presentations, and functional impairments for generalized anxiety disorder in military personnel and the general population in Canada. Can. J. Psychiatry 63, 610–619 (2018).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Watterson, R. A., Williams, J. V. A., Lavorato, D. H. & Patten, S. B. Descriptive epidemiology of generalized anxiety disorder in Canada. Can. J. Psychiatry 62, 24–29 (2017).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Patrick, R. et al. Prevalence and determinants of mental health related to climate change in Australia. Aust. N. Z. J. Psychiatry 57, 710–724 (2023).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Heeren, A., Mouguiama-Daouda, C. & Contreras, A. On climate anxiety and the threat it may pose to daily life functioning and adaptation: a study among European and African French-speaking participants. Clim. Change 173, 15 (2022).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Hajek, A. & König, H. H. Climate anxiety in Germany. Public Health 212, 89–94 (2022).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Lewandowski, R. E. et al. Climate emotions, thoughts, and plans among US adolescents and young adults: a cross-sectional descriptive survey and analysis by political party identification and self-reported exposure to severe weather events. Lancet Planet. Health 8, 879–893 (2024).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Brown, M. R. G. et al. Significant PTSD and other mental health effects present 18 months after the Fort Mcmurray wildfire: findings from 3,070 grades 7–12 students. Front. Psychiatry 10, 623 (2019).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Graham, H., White, P., Cotton, J. & McManus, S. Flood- and weather-damaged homes and mental health: an analysis using England’s mental health survey. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16, 3256 (2019).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Mulchandani, R. et al. Effect of insurance-related factors on the association between flooding and mental health outcomes. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16, 1174 (2019).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Waite, T. D. et al. The English national cohort study of flooding and health: cross-sectional analysis of mental health outcomes at year one. BMC Public Health 17, 129 (2017).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Berenz, E. C. et al. Pretyphoon panic attack history moderates the relationship between degree of typhoon exposure and posttyphoon PTSD and depression in a Vietnamese sample. Depress. Anxiety 30, 461–468 (2013).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Farhane-Medina, N. Z., Luque, B., Tabernero, C. & Castillo-Mayén, R. Factors associated with gender and sex differences in anxiety prevalence and comorbidity: a systematic review. Sci. Prog. 105, 1–30 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Nolen-Hoeksema, S. Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 8, 161–187 (2012).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Reese, G., Rueff, M. & Wullenkord, M. C. No risk, no fun…ctioning? Perceived climate risks, but not nature connectedness or self-efficacy predict climate anxiety. Front. Clim. 5, 1158451 (2023).

  52. Clayton, S., Pihkala, P., Wray, B. & Marks, E. Psychological and emotional responses to climate change among young people worldwide: differences associated with gender, age, and country. Sustainability 15, 3540 (2023).

  53. Constable, A. J. et al. in Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (eds Pörtner, H.-O. et al.) (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2022).

  54. Minor, K. et al. Experience exceeds awareness of anthropogenic climate change in Greenland. Nat. Clim. Change 13, 661–670 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  55. Harper, S. L., Sambo Dorough, D., Petrasek MacDonald, J., Cunsolo, A. & King, N. Climate change and Inuit health: research does not match risks posed. One Earth 4, 1656–1660 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  56. Durkalec, A., Furgal, C., Skinner, M. W. & Sheldon, T. Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of Indigenous health: relationships to place, sea ice, and health in an Inuit community. Soc. Sci. Med. 136–137, 17–26 (2015).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Harper, S. L. et al. Climate-sensitive health priorities in Nunatsiavut, Canada. BMC Public Health 15, 605 (2015).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  58. Redvers, N. et al. The determinants of planetary health: an Indigenous consensus perspective. Lancet Planet. Health 6, e156–e163 (2022).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Middleton, J., Cunsolo, A., Jones-Bitton, A., Wright, C. J. & Harper, S. L. Indigenous mental health in a changing climate: a systematic scoping review of the global literature. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, 053001 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  60. Dodd, W. et al. Lived experience of a record wildfire season in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Can. J. Public Health 109, 327–337 (2018).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Aylward, B., Cunsolo, A., Vriezen, R. & Harper, S. L. Climate change is impacting mental health in North America: a systematic scoping review of the hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, risks and responses. Int. Rev. Psychiatry 34, 34–50 (2022).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Tschakert, P., Ellis, N. R., Anderson, C., Kelly, A. & Obeng, J. One thousand ways to experience loss: a systematic analysis of climate-related intangible harm from around the world. Glob. Environ. Change 55, 58–72 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  63. Rantanen, M. et al. The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979. Commun. Earth Environ. 3, 168 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  64. Cunsolo Willox, A. et al. Examining relationships between climate change and mental health in the Circumpolar North. Reg. Environ. Change 15, 169–182 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  65. Pihkala, P. Anxiety and the ecological crisis: an analysis of eco-anxiety and climate anxiety. Sustainability 12, 7836 (2020).

  66. Pihkala, P. The process of eco-anxiety and ecological grief: a narrative review and a new proposal. Sustainability 14, 16628 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  67. Hickman, C. et al. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. Lancet Planet. Health 5, e863–e873 (2021).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Harper, S. L. et al. Estimating climate change and mental health impacts in Canada: a cross-sectional survey protocol. PLoS ONE 18, e0291303 (2023).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  69. Bush, E. & Lemmen, D. S. Canada’s Changing Climate Report (Government of Canada, 2019).

  70. Hogg, T. L., Stanley, S. K. & O’Brien, L. V. Synthesising psychometric evidence for the Climate Anxiety Scale and Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale. J. Environ. Psychol. 88, 102003 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank N. King for translation support. We also thank D. Elliot from Malatest for his ongoing support and troubleshooting ability. Funding support was provided by CIHR (to S.L.H. and A.C.), ArcticNet (to A.C.), SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (to B.A.), Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship (to B.A.) and Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship (to B.A.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    S. L. Harper, B. Aylward, M. Lin, R. Vriezen, M. Banuet-Martinez & H. L. Bayne

  2. Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

    A. Cunsolo

  3. Department of Psychology, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH, USA

    S. Clayton

  4. Data Science Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    K. Minor

  5. Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    R. Vriezen

Authors
  1. S. L. Harper
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Cunsolo
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. Aylward
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Clayton
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Lin
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K. Minor
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. R. Vriezen
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. M. Banuet-Martinez
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  9. H. L. Bayne
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: all authors; methodology: S.L.H., A.C., B.A., S.C. and K.M.; software: S.L.H. and M.L.; validation: S.L.H., B.A. and M.L.; formal analysis: S.L.H., B.A. and M.L.; data curation: S.L.H., B.A., M.L., R.V., M.B.M. and H.B.; writing—original draft: S.L.H.; writing—review and editing: all authors; visualization: S.L.H. and M.B.M.; project administration: S.L.H., A.C. and B.A.; funding acquisition: S.L.H. and A.C.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. L. Harper.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Mental Health thanks Tomás Gago, Jingwen Liu and Olivia Remes for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Fig. 1, Tables 1–4 and Data 1 and 2.

Reporting Summary

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Harper, S.L., Cunsolo, A., Aylward, B. et al. Prevalence, magnitude and distribution of climate change anxiety in Canada: an interdisciplinary study. Nat. Mental Health 3, 1384–1394 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00521-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00521-4

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing