Prevalence and factors of climate anxiety among Slovenian youth and innovative digital solutions designed to reduce distress and facilitate pro-environmental behavior

The project addresses the topic of climate anxiety, i.e., a phenomenon related to anxiety as a response to perceived climate change. Many gaps exist in this research area, both in terms of understanding the phenomenon (e.g., the prevalence of climate anxiety in the population, risk factors), and measures and strategies suitable for addressing it, especially in the context of digital interventions and in the youth population. Despite the numerous arguments in the international scientific literature on the relevance of the topic, it still represents a relatively new field of research that is mainly overlooked in the Slovenian space.  Therefore, we are focusing the framework of the project on detailed research of climate anxiety construct, i.e., its prevalence, protective and risk factors among youth in Slovenia, suitable strategies, and help provided to young people, experiencing this kind of anxiety.   From the existing literature is evident that climate anxiety is especially present in young people; therefore the project is focused on the period of middle and late adolescence (~ 14-24 years).  Since individuals in this age group are most often enrolled in high schools or higher education, this enables relative ease of accessing this population regarding the recruitment and involvement of participants in the project’s studies, including reaching near-representativeness of samples. In addition to young people, the project’s studies will involve mental health professionals (i.e., counselors, psychologists, psychotherapists), who work with young individuals and can report from their practice on the construct of climate anxiety and participate with the aim of developing appropriate measures and strategies to help the individuals experiencing climate anxiety.   More precisely, we plan to carry out multiple studies within the project. The first study will include several literature reviews, i.e., a review of existing research on climate anxiety with the youth population, a review of predictors and outcomes of climate anxiety, existing interventions, and opportunities for digital interventions in addressing climate anxiety. The findings obtained from these reviews will guide further studies of the project. The second study will be a cross-sectional study conducted on a youth sample to determine the prevalence, protective and risk factors for climate anxiety. We will repeat the same cross-sectional survey on a new, demographically comparable sample in the last year of the project, which will also enable us to investigate intergenerational differences. The third study will entail an EEG study, focused on emotion regulation strategies when experiencing climate anxiety. The fourth study consists of two qualitative studies (i.e., focus groups and a Delphi study) examining the familiarity and practical experience, of professionals regarding the addressing of climate anxiety. The outcomes of presented studies will inform the content (and technical) development of a digital solution for the support of young individuals, who experience climate anxiety. In parallel with the described studies, the development of the application’s technical framework and user interface will take place, and it will be evaluated several times by various stakeholders. The project's final study will include an intervention to address climate anxiety among young people in a randomized controlled trial format, which will be implemented through the digital solution developed in the project. The following organizations will participate in the various phases of the project: Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (University of Maribor), Faculty of Arts (University of Ljubljana), A1 Slovenija, National Institute of Public Health, and Counseling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Parents Ljubljana.