Toward a unified understanding of climate anxiety: Examining measures of climate and eco-anxiety

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339562 December 29, 2025 12 / 19 Correlates of the climate anxiety factor The latent correlations between the overarching climate anxiety factor and relevant constructs to test construct and crite- rion validity are shown in Fig 4. Models to test construct and criterion validity were calculated separately to ensure stable covariance parameters for the individual behavior factor. In a separate model, neuroticism showed a moderate correlation with climate anxiety (r = .355, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.292, 0.418]), indicating that the constructs are related but not redundant. Due to this non-redundancy, and for simplification, we forgo reporting relations of climate anxiety with other constructs incrementally to neuroticism in this manuscript. Neverthe- less, partial correlations controlling for neuroticism are reported in the supplementary material (https://osf.io/wvbd3/; see the file 2_CA_Paper_data_analysis_final2 in both HTML and RMD formats, provided at the end of Sections 4 and 5). Furthermore, for construct validity, we found a small correlation between the overarching climate anxiety factor and the risk perception of climate change–related health risks, while climate change–related fatigue was not associated with the Fig 4. Climate anxiety model and corresponding models for construct and criterion validity. Note. Climate anxiety = higher-order factor of climate anxiety; CAS = CAS scale/climate anxiety; C1–C13 = Items 1–13 of the CAS scale; HEAS-as = HEAS affective symptoms; HEAS-ru = HEAS rumination;

HEAS-bs = HEAS behavioral symptoms; HEAS-npi = HEAS anxiety about one’s negative impact on the planet; H1–H13 = Items 1–13 of the HEAS scale; RCA = readiness for climate action; IB = individual behavior; PA = policy acceptance; PP = political participation; N = neuroticism; RP = risk perception of climate change–related health risks; F = climate change–related fatigue; S-E = self-efficacy to show individual emission-reducing behavior. Square brack- ets show 95% confidence intervals. Solid lines show significant associations, with p < 0.001. Dashed lines show associations that are not significant. As construct and criterion validity for climate anxiety were estimated in two separate models, both including neuroticism, neuroticism is shown in the middle of both models and is correlated slightly differently to climate anxiety in the two models. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339562.g004