Young People’s Climate Distress Extends Beyond Eco-Anxiety

Review findings

“Eco-anxiety” and “climate-anxiety” are among the best-known terms used to describe people’s feelings about the climate crisis. But a review of published academic research suggests these labels capture only part of how young people experience awareness of global warming and climate change.

The review examined original research and review papers focused on people aged 10 to 29. It found that researchers use inconsistent definitions for both eco-anxiety and climate-anxiety. In the papers reviewed, eco-anxiety was defined 41 times and climate-anxiety 24 times, with major differences over whether these terms are tied to anxiety itself, to broader concern or worry, or to symptoms associated with anxiety disorders.

The definitions also vary on whether they refer only to climate-related change or to wider environmental change, and whether they describe feelings linked to awareness of human-caused change or to direct experience of climate events.

Beyond anxiety alone

The researchers found that while eco-anxiety and climate-anxiety are the most common labels, the literature describes a much wider range of responses. In total, the review identified 173 experiences showing how young people think, feel and behave in response to awareness of the climate crisis.

These experiences include solastalgia, symptoms of depression, sleep disruption, financial strain and hope, among others. The findings suggest it is important to address the full spectrum of young people’s experiences, including effects on physical health such as sleep, physical activity and eating behaviors, as well as impacts on social, cultural, spiritual and community wellbeing.

The authors also noted that previous research found eco-anxiety levels were significantly higher among US youth aged 16 to 24 who reported exposure to climate change hazards.

Cultural and historical context

The review argues that young people’s responses to climate change are shaped by history, identity, place and power, and that research should be developed with people whose lives are directly affected. Work with lived-experience experts has led researchers to broaden and deepen definitions of eco-anxiety.

One contributor described climate-anxiety not simply as worry, but as an embodied and intergenerational wound linked to colonization and colonial legacies. The researchers said they found no existing definitions of climate change anxiety or eco-anxiety that acknowledge the impact of colonial history on environmental distress.

Collaboration with lived-experience experts also prompted a broader understanding of resilience in youth climate work, moving beyond the idea of simply “bouncing back” toward a balance of strength, softness and self-care that can sustain long-term engagement.

Implications for support and policy

Taken together, the findings suggest that young people’s experiences of climate awareness are more complex, varied and culturally situated than the terms eco-anxiety or climate-anxiety can fully capture.

The review says the lack of consistent definitions limits scientific clarity and may narrow how researchers, practitioners and policymakers understand and support young people living through climate change. It argues that meaningful interventions will require moving beyond narrow psychological framings and engaging with the full range of lived experiences.

That includes co-designing research, measures and policy with those most affected, recognizing the structural and historical forces that shape climate distress, and using language that better reflects how people actually experience the climate crisis.