Eco-anxiety: how do young people relate to the climate crisis?

Mar 25, 2026 · 890 words · By Daniella Watson; Emma Lawrance

Analysis Summary

Propaganda Score: 0% (confidence: 95%)
Summary: The article discusses academic research on how young people experience climate change awareness, highlighting inconsistencies in definitions of terms like 'eco-anxiety' and 'climate-anxiety'. It emphasizes the need for inclusive research that incorporates lived experiences and cultural factors, while critiquing narrow psychological framings of climate impacts.

“Eco-anxiety and climate-anxiety are the most widely known terms describing people's responses to the climate crisis.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to confirm or refute the claim about terminology prevalence

“A review of academic papers found surprising results about how young people aged 10-29 experience awareness of global warming and its effects.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to verify academic review findings

“Researchers do not have agreed definitions for eco-anxiety, with 41 definitions found for eco-anxiety and 24 for climate-anxiety.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to confirm definition counts or consensus status

“Definitions of eco-anxiety vary on whether they associate it with anxiety disorders or frame it as concern without anxiety.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to verify definition variations

“Definitions of eco-anxiety differ on whether they focus on climate-related changes or broader environmental changes.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to confirm scope variations in definitions

“Eco-anxiety levels are significantly higher in US youth aged 16-24 who self-report exposure to climate change hazards.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to verify correlation between exposure and anxiety levels

“The review identified 173 experiences describing young people's responses to climate change awareness, including solastalgia and financial strain.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to confirm experience counts or specific examples

“The study organized experiences into six interrelated categories and sub-categories.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to verify categorization structure

“Researchers collaborated with lived experience experts to co-design research on climate change impacts.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to confirm collaboration methods

“A contributor described eco-anxiety as an intergenerational wound linked to colonization and colonial legacies.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence in archive to verify the contributor's characterization

“The Axa Research Fund has supported over 700 projects across 38 countries on environmental and socioeconomic risks.”

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“The study adopted a broader definition of resilience to include strength, softness, and self-care for sustained climate action.”

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“Young people's experiences of climate crisis awareness are more complex and culturally situated than terms like eco-anxiety can capture.”

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“No existing definitions of eco-anxiety acknowledge the impact of colonial history on environmental distress experiences.”

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