Logo image
The Relationship Between Climate Change Issue Engagement, Connection to Nature and Mental Wellbeing
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Relationship Between Climate Change Issue Engagement, Connection to Nature and Mental Wellbeing

Matt Whelan, Shahin Rahimi-Golkhandan and Eric Brymer
Frontiers in Public Health, Vol.10, 790578
09/05/2022
PMID: 35615036
pdf
The Relationship Between Climate Change Issue Engagement, Connection to Nature and Mental Wellbeing1.21 MBDownloadView
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0 Open Access
url
The relationship between climate changeView
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0 Open

Related links

Metrics

4 File views/ downloads
56 Record Views

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Source: InCites

Abstract

climate change nature connection/intimacy nature relatedness pro-environmental behavior wellbeing Other psychology not elsewhere classified Public health not elsewhere classified Sports science and exercise not elsewhere classified Other health not elsewhere classified
As the threat of climate change becomes increasingly prevalent for people in both the developed and developing world, the impact of climate change on mental wellbeing has become a crucial area of research. In addition to the direct, indirect, and psychosocial impacts of climate change on mental wellbeing, there is also a question of how climate change driven changes to the environment will influence the well-established positive relationship between connection to nature and mental wellbeing. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between climate change issue engagement, connection to nature, and mental wellbeing in English speaking adults over 18 years of age. This study examined the average levels of connection to nature and mental wellbeing in people with different levels of climate change issue engagement, and evaluated whether a person's level of climate change issue engagement uniquely predicted mental wellbeing. The study corroborated positive relationships between wellbeing and various aspects of relatedness to nature in the overall sample. The strength of these relationships, however, depended on the level of climate change issue engagement. More specifically, the level of engagement is inversely linked to mental wellbeing, such that the lower the level of engagement, generally the higher is wellbeing.

Details

Logo image