Climate Anxiety, Loneliness and Perceived Social Isolation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample
2.2. Dependent Variables
2.3. Key Independent Variable
2.4. Covariates
2.5. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Sample Characteristics
3.2. Regression Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Age Group | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | 18 to 29 Years | 30 to 49 Years | 50 to 64 Years | 65 to 74 Years | Total Sample | p-Value |
N (%) | 577 (18.7) | 1076 (34.8) | 995 (32.2) | 443 (14.3) | 3091 (100.0) | |
Sex: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Male | 123 (21.3) | 506 (47.0) | 594 (59.7) | 331 (74.7) | 1554 (50.3) | |
Female | 453 (78.5) | 567 (52.7) | 399 (40.1) | 112 (25.3) | 1531 (49.5) | |
Diverse | 1 (0.2) | 3 (0.3) | 2 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (0.2) | |
Age: Mean (SD) | 24.5 (3.3) | 39.3 (5.5) | 56.9 (4.1) | 69.0 (2.8) | 46.5 (15.3) | <0.001 |
Children in own household: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
No | 439 (76.1) | 537 (49.9) | 775 (77.9) | 407 (91.9) | 2158 (69.8) | |
Yes | 138 (23.9) | 539 (50.1) | 220 (22.1) | 36 (8.1) | 933 (30.2) | |
Marital status: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Married, not cohabiting with spouse; single; divorced; widowed | 308 (53.4) | 378 (35.1) | 416 (41.8) | 164 (37.0) | 1266 (41.0) | |
Married, cohabiting with spouse | 269 (46.6) | 698 (64.9) | 579 (58.2) | 279 (63.0) | 1825 (59.0) | |
State: N (%) | 0.052 | |||||
Baden-Wuerttemberg | 81 (14.0) | 152 (14.1) | 134 (13.5) | 50 (11.3) | 417 (13.5) | |
Bavaria | 95 (16.5) | 201 (18.7) | 144 (14.5) | 57 (12.9) | 497 (16.1) | |
Berlin | 17 (2.9) | 54 (5.0) | 41 (4.1) | 26 (5.9) | 138 (4.5) | |
Brandenburg | 11 (1.9) | 30 (2.8) | 30 (3.0) | 20 (4.5) | 91 (2.9) | |
Bremen | 7 (1.2) | 9 (0.8) | 7 (0.7) | 2 (0.5) | 25 (0.8) | |
Hamburg | 12 (2.1) | 27 (2.5) | 22 (2.2) | 9 (2.0) | 70 (2.3) | |
Hesse | 51 (8.8) | 67 (6.2) | 73 (7.3) | 42 (9.5) | 233 (7.5) | |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 8 (1.4) | 19 (1.8) | 20 (2.0) | 11 (2.5) | 58 (1.9) | |
Lower Saxony | 49 (8.5) | 103 (9.6) | 88 (8.8) | 58 (13.1) | 298 (9.6) | |
North Rhine-Westphalia | 135 (23.4) | 208 (19.3) | 236 (23.7) | 89 (20.1) | 668 (21.6) | |
Rhineland-Palatinate | 35 (6.1) | 50 (4.6) | 46 (4.6) | 18 (4.1) | 149 (4.8) | |
Saarland | 5 (0.9) | 15 (1.4) | 13 (1.3) | 3 (0.7) | 36 (1.2) | |
Saxony | 25 (4.3) | 50 (4.6) | 49 (4.9) | 22 (5.0) | 146 (4.7) | |
Saxony-Anhalt | 13 (2.3) | 25 (2.3) | 23 (2.3) | 18 (4.1) | 79 (2.6) | |
Schleswig-Holstein | 17 (2.9) | 38 (3.5) | 40 (4.0) | 13 (2.9) | 108 (3.5) | |
Thuringia | 16 (2.8) | 28 (2.6) | 29 (2.9) | 5 (1.1) | 78 (2.5) | |
Migration background: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
No migration background | 459 (79.5) | 917 (85.2) | 929 (93.4) | 416 (93.9) | 2721 (88.0) | |
Migration background | 118 (20.5) | 159 (14.8) | 66 (6.6) | 27 (6.1) | 370 (12.0) | |
Education: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Upper secondary school | 334 (57.9) | 483 (44.9) | 284 (28.5) | 133 (30.0) | 1234 (39.9) | |
Qualification for applied upper secondary school | 74 (12.8) | 142 (13.2) | 94 (9.4) | 46 (10.4) | 356 (11.5) | |
Polytechnic Secondary School | 5 (0.9) | 31 (2.9) | 114 (11.5) | 46 (10.4) | 196 (6.3) | |
Intermediate Secondary School | 124 (21.5) | 345 (32.1) | 360 (36.2) | 127 (28.7) | 956 (30.9) | |
Lower Secondary School/Without school-leaving qualification | 27 (4.7) | 74 (6.9) | 142 (14.3) | 90 (20.3) | 333 (10.8) | |
Currently in school training/education | 13 (2.3) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.2) | 16 (0.5) | |
Employment status: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Full-time employed | 209 (36.2) | 645 (59.9) | 488 (49.0) | 23 (5.2) | 1365 (44.2) | |
Retired | 1 (0.2) | 39 (3.6) | 215 (21.6) | 391 (88.3) | 646 (20.9) | |
Other | 367 (63.6) | 392 (36.4) | 292 (29.3) | 29 (6.5) | 1080 (34.9) | |
Pets: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Yes, I have pets | 252 (43.7) | 529 (49.2) | 464 (46.6) | 147 (33.2) | 1392 (45.0) | |
No, I do not have pets | 325 (56.3) | 547 (50.8) | 531 (53.4) | 296 (66.8) | 1699 (55.0) | |
Smoking status: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Yes, daily | 81 (14.0) | 261 (24.3) | 298 (29.9) | 82 (18.5) | 722 (23.4) | |
Yes, sometimes | 60 (10.4) | 89 (8.3) | 66 (6.6) | 23 (5.2) | 238 (7.7) | |
No, not anymore | 117 (20.3) | 285 (26.5) | 325 (32.7) | 216 (48.8) | 943 (30.5) | |
Never smoker | 319 (55.3) | 441 (41.0) | 306 (30.8) | 122 (27.5) | 1188 (38.4) | |
Alcohol consumption: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Daily | 15 (2.6) | 39 (3.6) | 81 (8.1) | 64 (14.4) | 199 (6.4) | |
Several times a week | 58 (10.1) | 173 (16.1) | 215 (21.6) | 98 (22.1) | 544 (17.6) | |
Once a week | 94 (16.3) | 185 (17.2) | 130 (13.1) | 57 (12.9) | 466 (15.1) | |
1–3 times a month | 139 (24.1) | 194 (18.0) | 151 (15.2) | 61 (13.8) | 545 (17.6) | |
Less often | 149 (25.8) | 287 (26.7) | 227 (22.8) | 83 (18.7) | 746 (24.1) | |
Never | 122 (21.1) | 198 (18.4) | 191 (19.2) | 80 (18.1) | 591 (19.1) | |
Sports activities: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
No sports activity | 94 (16.3) | 226 (21.0) | 352 (35.4) | 166 (37.5) | 838 (27.1) | |
Less than one hour a week | 114 (19.8) | 213 (19.8) | 166 (16.7) | 82 (18.5) | 575 (18.6) | |
Regularly, 1–2 h a week | 157 (27.2) | 306 (28.4) | 221 (22.2) | 87 (19.6) | 771 (24.9) | |
Regularly, 2–4 h a week | 116 (20.1) | 184 (17.1) | 126 (12.7) | 64 (14.4) | 490 (15.9) | |
Regularly, more than 4 h a week | 96 (16.6) | 147 (13.7) | 130 (13.1) | 44 (9.9) | 417 (13.5) | |
Chronic diseases: N (%) | <0.001 | |||||
Absence of at least one chronic disease | 415 (71.9) | 705 (65.5) | 404 (40.6) | 149 (33.6) | 1673 (54.1) | |
Presence of at least one chronic disease | 162 (28.1) | 371 (34.5) | 591 (59.4) | 294 (66.4) | 1418 (45.9) | |
Self-rated health (from 1 = very bad to 5 = very good): Mean (SD) | 3.9 (0.8) | 3.8 (0.8) | 3.4 (0.9) | 3.3 (0.9) | 3.6 (0.9) | <0.001 |
Coronavirus anxiety scale (from 0 to 20, with higher values reflecting higher coronavirus anxiety): Mean (SD) | 2.1 (3.7) | 1.7 (3.4) | 1.0 (2.4) | 0.9 (2.3) | 1.4 (3.1) | <0.001 |
Climate anxiety score (from 1 to 7, with higher values reflecting higher climate anxiety): Mean (SD) | 2.4 (1.3) | 2.1 (1.3) | 1.8 (1.0) | 1.8 (1.0) | 2.0 (1.2) | <0.001 |
Loneliness (from 1 to 4, with higher values reflecting higher loneliness scores): Mean (SD) | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.7) | 2.0 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.7) | 0.018 |
Perceived social isolation (from 1 to 4, with higher values reflecting higher perceived social isolation scores): Mean (SD) | 2.2 (0.8) | 2.0 (0.8) | 1.8 (0.8) | 1.8 (0.7) | 1.9 (0.8) | <0.001 |
Independent Variables | Loneliness | Perceived Social Isolation | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Sample | 18 to 29 Years | 30 to 49 Years | 50 to 64 Years | 65 to 74 Years | Total Sample | 18 to 29 Years | 30 to 49 Years | 50 to 64 Years | 65 to 74 Years | |
Climate anxiety | 0.06 *** | 0.06 ** | 0.06 *** | 0.08 *** | 0.01 | 0.10 *** | 0.12 *** | 0.09 *** | 0.11 *** | 0.05 |
(0.01) | (0.02) | (0.02) | (0.02) | (0.03) | (0.01) | (0.03) | (0.02) | (0.03) | (0.04) | |
Covariates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
R2 | 0.21 | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.24 | 0.29 | 0.25 | 0.23 |
Observations | 3091 | 577 | 1076 | 995 | 443 | 3091 | 577 | 1076 | 995 | 443 |
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Hajek, A.; König, H.-H. Climate Anxiety, Loneliness and Perceived Social Isolation. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 14991. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214991
Hajek A, König H-H. Climate Anxiety, Loneliness and Perceived Social Isolation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(22):14991. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214991
Chicago/Turabian StyleHajek, André, and Hans-Helmut König. 2022. "Climate Anxiety, Loneliness and Perceived Social Isolation" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 22: 14991. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214991