Mental Health: Global Challenges Journal
https://www.sciendo.com/journal/MHGCJ
ISSN 2612-2138
Introduction
Environmental hazards, such as pollution,
climate change, and resource depletion,
have become global challenges with
profound psychological and social
implications environmental hazards or climate
change pose an existential threat to the
human condition and its continued existence
(American Psychological Association [APA],
2017). However, these challenges manifest
differently across cultures and regions
(Ramrez-López et al., 2023; Thompson et al.,
2023; Centre for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters [CRED], 2018).
Spanish and Mexican university students
represent a unique demographic with distinct
cultural, environmental, and sociopolitical
contexts. This existential threat to the human
condition and its continued existence
become one of the focuses of mental health
professionals recently (American
Psychological Association [APA] 2017; Clayton
& Manning, 2018; Clayton & Karazsia, 2020;
Zafa, 2022). Environmental crises have been
identified as pervasive and imminent in
certain regions of America while Mexico is
inclusive or probably one of those mostly
affected (Global Forest Watch, 2022; Instituto
Nacional de Ecologa y Cambio Climático
[INECC], 2018; McCutchen et al. 2021;
Ramrez-López et al., 2023).
The Environmental Worry Index (EWI) was
initially developed, validated, and used in
sub-Saharan African population, where it has
begun to acquire recognition as a unique
measure of the worries associated with
environmental degradations from past to
present experience and anticipated future
effects on individuals (Oguntayo et al., 2023).
In contrast to similar scale studies within and
outside Latin American populations (Hogg et
al., 2021; Gómez et al., 2022; Materia, 2026;
Ramírez-López et al., 2023), the initial study of
the current study went further by
incorporating eco-anxiety and other
environmental-related factors into measuring
environmental worry (Oguntayo et al., 2023).
This makes EWI more encompassing it covers
eco-anxiety and other concerns related to
natural or man-made environmental
depletion (Hickman et al., 2020). It consists of
"climate change anxiety" (anxiety specifically
associated with human-caused climate
change, such as global warming, rising sea
levels, and more natural disasters and extreme
weather events) and anxiety about a number
of environmental disasters that may or may
not be directly associated with climate
change, such as the extinction of entire
ecosystems and plant and animal species
(Clayton et al., 2020; Pihkala, 2020). Given the
interconnectedness of environmental issues in
our global ecosystem and the evidence that
people express concern over other types of
environmental problems (Haaland, 2019; Helm
et al., 2018; Hickman, 2020; Kelly, 2017). It is
reasonable to assume that people are
concerned about other environmental issues.
Environmental worry encompasses a
spectrum of affective and behavioral
responses to environmental problems, such as
feelings of fear, unease, and apprehension
about the immediate and future effects of
environmental issues on individuals (Clayton et
al., 2017; Oguntayo et al., 2023). It is broader
than eco-anxiety (a type of emotional
response that lies under environmental
concern); not all-environmental concern is
inherently eco-anxiety, but all eco-anxiety is
embedded in environmental concern
(Clayton et al., 2017; Haaland 2019; Helm et
al., 2018; Thompson et al., 2023).
Environmental worry encompasses a broader
spectrum, including pollution, extreme
weather conditions (heat, excessive rainfall,
drought, etc.), extinction of species, food
scarcity, factors that aid an unconducive
physical environment, and cognitive and
behavioral responses that accompany it with
immediate and future anxiety (Clayton et al.,
2017; Oguntayo et al., 2023).
According to a study, the EWI reflects
individuals' evaluations of the immediate,
severe, and future effects of environmental
problems (Oguntayo et al., 2023). When a
person's perspective, attitudes, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control in a
given situation are perceived to be under
threat, it may trigger emotional reactions such
as anxiety, dread, and concerns (Si et al. 2019;
Thompson et al., 2023). Moreover, the existing
eco- or climate change anxiety measures
(Ogunbode et al., 2022; Helm et al., 2018;
Kelly, 2017) capture the negative emotions
that individuals experience when considering
climate change; however, they do not
account for concerns about other
environmental hazards such as EWI.
EWI concentrates on the environmental
damage anxiety as opposed to anxiety over
generic, societal, or global causes (Clayton et
al., 2020; Van der Linden 2014). More so, some
existing assessments of environmental worry
are typically available in English, German,
Polish, and French (Clayton et al., 2020;
Larionow et al., 2022; Mouguiama-Daouda et
al., 2022; Rethage et al., 2008; Stewart, 2021).
Considering these, the study chose to adapt
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