Adolescents Concerned about Climate Change: A Hermeneutic Study

Climate change is a public health threat on a global scale. Over the last two decades, research has uncovered the myriad health effects of climate change and its associated costs. The literature is also beginning to show the direct and indirect effects of climate change to be an indicator of increased adverse mental health outcomes including excessive worry, anxiety, grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The development of scales to measure some of these effects in adult populations has shown the critical need to understand the various ways climate change affects mental well-being in adolescent populations who are at a critical juncture in psychological development. The purposes of this study were to understand the lived experience of adolescents who are concerned about climate change and uncover the meaning of climate change concern for adolescents as informed by emerging patterns. This study utilized Hermeneutic Phenomenology as a philosophical foundation and methodological approach for data retrieval and analysis. An interview-based approach with a purposeful sample (n = 11, aged 12-17 years) revealed the multi-layered elements of climate change concern and its effects. Three patterns emerged: Climate Change as a Temporal Threat and Pressure, Awareness and Concern as a Continuum, and Experiencing Concern and Making Meaning. These findings may now inform interdisciplinary knowledge on upstream mitigation efforts and the promotion of positive outcomes relating to climate change. The need for focused educational attention to adolescent behaviors and concerns is explicated and exemplified.