BackgroundClimate anxiety is increasingly prevalent among adolescents worldwide. Are climate‐anxious adolescents prone to engage in pro‐environmental behavior? Or might the association between climate anxiety and pro‐environmental be curvilinear, such that high levels of climate anxiety become ‘paralyzing’? And do these associations depend on whether adolescents believe that, with effort, the worst impacts of climate change can still be prevented?MethodsWe addressed these questions in three studies (two preregistered; combined N = 2,211), conducted across two countries. We used cross‐sectional and longitudinal methods, and various measures of climate anxiety and pro‐environmental behavior. We performed Bayesian regression analyses comparing two models that tested competing hypotheses. The first model included a linear effect of climate anxiety on pro‐environmental behavior, and the second model included both a linear and a curvilinear (i.e. inverted U‐shaped) effect of climate anxiety on pro‐environmental behavior. Next, we added environmental efficacy to the best fitting model and explored its moderating effects.ResultsAdolescents reported low‐to‐moderate levels of climate anxiety. Across the board, we found evidence for a small, positive, and mostly linear (rather than curvilinear) association between climate anxiety and pro‐environmental behavior. While Study 1 supported a curvilinear association (Bayes Factor (BF) = 18.87), Studies 2 and 3 mostly supported a linear model (BFs range 6.86–12.71), except for weak support (BF = 1.62) for a curvilinear association between climate anxiety symptoms and public sphere pro‐environmental behavior. Adolescents' environmental efficacy moderated this link for public sphere (e.g. activism), but not private sphere (e.g. recycling), pro‐environmental behavior.ConclusionsClimate‐anxious adolescents are prone to engage in pro‐environmental behavior. We found limited evidence for ‘eco‐paralysis’ (i.e. a passive state of pro‐environmental behavioral stasis) at high levels of climate anxiety. Our results are consistent with the possibility that supporting adolescents' environmental efficacy will help climate‐anxious adolescents engage in public sphere pro‐environmental behavior.

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感到焦虑并参与全球变暖：气候焦虑与青少年的亲环境行为


背景气候焦虑在全球青少年中越来越普遍。气候焦虑的青少年是否容易从事有利于环境的行为？或者，气候焦虑与亲环境之间的关联可能是曲线的，以至于高水平的气候焦虑变得“瘫痪”？这些关联是否取决于青少年是否相信，通过努力，气候变化的最坏影响仍然可以得到预防？方法我们在两个国家进行的三项研究 （两项预先注册;合并 N = 2,211） 中解决了这些问题。我们使用了横断面和纵向方法，以及气候焦虑和亲环境行为的各种测量方法。我们进行了贝叶斯回归分析，比较了两个测试竞争假设的模型。第一个模型包括气候焦虑对亲环境行为的线性影响，第二个模型包括气候焦虑对亲环境行为的线性和曲线（即倒 U 形）影响。接下来，我们将环境效能添加到最佳拟合模型中，并探索其调节作用。结果青少年报告了低到中等水平的气候焦虑。总体而言，我们发现证据表明气候焦虑与亲环境行为之间存在微小、积极且大部分线性（而不是曲线）关联。虽然研究 1 支持曲线关联（贝叶斯因子 （BF） = 18.87），但研究 2 和 3 主要支持线性模型（BF 范围为 6.86-12.71），除了对气候焦虑症状与公共领域亲环境行为之间的曲线关联的支持较弱（BF = 1.62）。青少年的环境效能调节了公共领域（例如激进主义）的这种联系，但私人领域（例如 回收）、支持环境的行为。结论气候焦虑的青少年容易从事亲环境行为。我们发现在高水平的气候焦虑下存在 “生态瘫痪” （即亲环境行为停滞的被动状态） 的证据有限。我们的结果与支持青少年的环境效能有助于气候焦虑的青少年参与公共领域的亲环境行为的可能性一致。