Psychiatry · Public Health · 58 min ago
Climate Worry Correlates With Anxiety in Rural Turkish High School Students
A cross-sectional study of 782 students in grades 9–12 in rural Türkiye found a moderate association between climate change worry and generalized anxiety symptoms. Worry scores were also higher among female students, those reporting recent local extreme weather, and those reporting more social media use.
- 782 rural Turkish students completed anxiety and climate-worry scales.
- 45.1% scored at or above the GAD-7 clinical cut-off.
- Climate worry and anxiety scores were moderately correlated.
- Cross-sectional findings cannot establish causation.
Researchers surveyed 782 students attending public high schools in Vezirköprü district, Türkiye, between April and June 2026. Students completed the Climate Change Worry Scale (CCWS), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The cross-sectional analysis examined associations between worry scores and student characteristics, including anxiety symptoms, social media use, and reported exposure to extreme weather in the previous year.
The mean CCWS score was 30.31 (SD 9.54), and the mean GAD-7 score was 8.78 (SD 6.58). A total of 353 students (45.1%) scored at or above the GAD-7 clinical cut-off of 10. CCWS and GAD-7 scores were moderately correlated (Spearman ρ=0.573; p<0.001). In adjusted analysis, female sex, GAD-7 score, social media use above six hours, reported extreme-weather exposure, and school type independently predicted climate worry; the model explained 43.7% of its variance.
The findings describe associations in one rural district and do not establish that anxiety, social media use, or weather exposure causes climate worry. The authors suggest school-based mental health and climate-literacy programs, but this study did not evaluate such interventions.
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BMC Public Health: Climate change worry and generalized anxiety among high school students in a rural district of Türkiye: a cross-sectional study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.