Toward a Unified Understanding of Climate Anxiety: Examining Measures of Climate and Eco-Anxiety

Research on the validity of climate anxiety measures is limited due to the predominant focus on anxiety-related symptoms in general population samples, unclear construct definitions (raising concerns about jangle fallacies), and a lack of embedding into broader nomological networks. To address these issues, this study (N = 1003) examined the factor structure of the Climate Anxiety Scale (CAS) and the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS). The results show that both scales measure the same construct: climate anxiety. A joint measurement model with one higher-order factor, indicated by one CAS and four HEAS factors, showed a good fit. The climate anxiety factor had good convergent validity (covariance with climate-related risk perception and neuroticism) and demonstrated criterion validity in relation to political participation. Interestingly, this indicates mild activation, not behavioral paralysis typical of anxiety, since small positive associations with climate-related self-efficacy and no link to climate change–related fatigue were observed.