Toward Sustainable Mental Health: Development and Validation of the Brief Anxiety Scale for Climate Change (BACC) in South Korea

Hyunjin Kim, Sooyun Jung, Boyoung Kang, Yongjun Lee, Hye-Young Jin and Kee-Hong Choi ()
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Hyunjin Kim: School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Sooyun Jung: School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Boyoung Kang: School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Yongjun Lee: School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Hye-Young Jin: Research Planning and General Affairs Division, Korea National Arboretum, Pocheon 11186, Republic of Korea
Kee-Hong Choi: School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: Climate change disrupts lives globally and poses significant challenges to mental health. Although several scales assess climate anxiety, many either conflate symptoms with coping responses or fail to adequately capture the core symptomatology of anxiety. Hence, this study aimed to develop and validate the Brief Anxiety Scale for Climate Change (BACC), a self-report measure designed to assess symptoms of climate anxiety. A preliminary pool of 21 items was generated based on the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder and climate-related stress. Study 1 (n = 300) explored the factor structure via an exploratory factor analysis while Study 2 (n = 400) independently validated the structure via a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Analyses of the internal consistency, content validity, and discriminant validity helped refine the scale to a final 13-item version with two factors: cognitive and functional impairment. The CFA results indicated that all the fit indices met the recommended thresholds, and the final version demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.92). Additionally, latent correlations revealed that climate anxiety was moderately associated with generalized anxiety and depression. The BACC was developed to identify individuals in the community who experience climate anxiety beyond an adaptive level, thereby promoting sustainable mental health in the context of climate change. These findings suggest that the BACC is a promising tool for assessing climate anxiety. With better identification, mental health professionals, community practitioners, and policymakers can utilize the scale to develop climate-sensitive public health programs and tailored intervention strategies.

Keywords: climate anxiety; sustainable mental health; psychometric validation; scale development; climate change; sustainability tools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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