An investigation of the relation between Covid-19 anxiety, climate anxiety, and locus of control

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic and climate change are two current crises happening at the same time. Prior research found that both crises have the potential to influence a person’s anxiety levels and mental health in general. The two types of anxiety Covid-19 anxiety and climate anxiety are still largely unexplored, and little is known about their association with each other. This study investigated Covid-19 anxiety and climate anxiety in relation to each other as well as the association of each concept with the concept of locus of control (LoC) and a set of explorative variables in a sample of 127 adult participants living in Germany or Sweden. The results showed that Covid-19 anxiety and climate anxiety were positively associated with each other. While Covid-19 anxiety was negatively associated with internal LoC and positively associated with powerful others LoC, climate anxiety showed positive associations with powerful others LoC and chance LoC. Both Covid-19 anxiety and climate anxiety were found to be more prevalent among individuals living in Germany and women. There was also a positive association between exposing oneself to media regarding the crises and Covid-19 anxiety as well as climate anxiety. Further research regarding the relationship between Covid-19 anxiety, climate anxiety, and LoC is needed for improved understanding of the relation between the two crises, politics and mental health in society with the final aim to optimize the planning of actions to counteract the crises and improve crisis-related psychological health in society.