Climate change anxiety, hope, and pro-environmental behavioral intention during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a psychosocial stressor with potential implications for women's mental health, particularly during pregnancy-a period characterized by heightened emotional sensitivity and future-oriented concern. Understanding how climate-related emotions relate to behavioral processes in this population remains limited.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between climate change anxiety, hope for climate change mitigation, and pro-environmental behavioral intention among pregnant women.

This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 287 pregnant women attending routine antenatal follow-up visits at a secondary care obstetrics outpatient clinic in Türkiye between May and August 2025. Data were collected using the Climate Change Anxiety Scale, the Climate Change Hope Scale, and a Behavioral Intention Index. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. The STROBE checklist was used to report this study.

Pregnant women reported moderate levels of climate change anxiety, moderate-to-high levels of hope, and moderate levels of pro-environmental behavioral intention. There was a moderate positive correlation between hope and behavioral intention and a weaker positive correlation between climate change anxiety and behavioral intention. Regression analysis indicated that hope showed the strongest association with behavioral intention (β = 0.392, p < .001), followed by climate change anxiety (β = 0.210, p < .001). Together, these variables explained 20% of the variance in behavioral intention.

The findings demonstrate that climate change-related anxiety and hope jointly contribute to pro-environmental behavioral intention during pregnancy. Considering both threat-related and efficacy-related emotional processes may strengthen women's mental health-informed approaches to climate engagement.