Climate change distress, entrapment, and suicidal ideation

Abstract

Climate change distress has been shown to be associated with markers of negative mental health. However, it is unclear whether climate change distress is also associated with suicidal ideation and whether this association might be mediated by perceptions of entrapment. On this background, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between climate change distress/impairment, entrapment, and suicidal ideation. Participants were recruited at a university in the Ruhr region in Germany. Overall, 323 participants (68.4% female; Mage=26.14, SDage=8.35, range: 18–63 years) filled out self-report questionnaires on climate change distress/impairment, entrapment, and suicidal ideation online. Climate change distress/impairment was significantly positively associated with suicidal ideation. Entrapment completely mediated the association between climate change distress/impairment and suicidal ideation. Results underlines how stressful and existential climate change is experienced by many young persons. Findings underscore the need to develop and evaluate interventions to target climate change distress/impairment.