Eco-anxiety
Conditions
Keywords
art-intervention, philosophy inquiry, eco-anxiety, coping with climate change, school-based intervention
Brief summary
The present study aimed to evaluate the impacts of a school-based program that combined creative arts and philosophy inquiry to discuss climate change emotions with children. The objective was to determine if there were changes that could be seen in the group that participated in the weekly workshops (total of 7 workshops) compared to the group who did not participate (control group). A questionnaire was administered to all children before the intervention began and after it finished to compare scores on the variables of coping with climate change, eco-anxiety, intolerance to distress, general anxiety, and self-determination.
Interventions
This intervention combined creative arts workshops using drawing, photography, painting and collage to introduce a theme related to climate change and promote emotional expression. The artistic creation was followed by a philosophical inquiry group discussion on a theme related to the artistic creation to allow critical thinking and sharing perceptions.
Sponsors
Bishop's University
Université du Québec a Montréal
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Randomized cluster trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
8 Years to 13 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Elementary school student in recruited classrooms
Exclusion criteria
\-
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Coping with climate change | Baseline and 8 weeks | The Coping with Climate Change Scale for Adolescents developed by Ojala (2012) uses a Likert-type scale (0 = not true at all for me; 4 = completely true for me) to measure three coping dimensions (problem coping, avoidance coping, and meaning coping). Lower scores represent less usage of this coping strategy, while higher scores indicate high usage of this coping strategy. |
| Eco-anxiety | Baseline and 8 weeks | The Hogg Eco-anxiety Scale (2021) was adapted to children by making the language more accessible. The scale is rated on a 4-point Likert type scale (0 = Never, 3 = Almost every day), and higher scores indicate higher eco-anxiety (worst outcomes). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intolerance to distress | Baseline and 8 weeks | The Distress Intolerance Index for Youth (Keller, 2019) uses a 5-point Likert type scale (0 = Not at all true for me to 4 = Very true for me), and higher scores indicate higher intolerance to distress (worst outcome). |
| General anxiety | Baseline and 8 weeks | The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children 3rd edition for Canadian francophones (BASC-III; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) uses a Likert-type scale (0 = never to 3 = almost always), and higher scores indicate higher anxiety symptoms (worst outcome). |
| Self-determination | Baseline and 8 weeks | The Self-Determination at School Scale (Savard et al., 2013) uses a 5-point Likert-type scale (from 0 = Almost never to 4 = Almost always) where higher scores indicate higher levels of self-determination (better outcome). |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed