Anxiety relating to a multitude of ecological crises, or eco-anxiety, is a subject of growing research significance. We used a multi-study mixed-methods design to explore eco-anxiety in Australia and New Zealand, validating a new eco-anxiety scale. In Study One, we developed and tested a 7-item eco-anxiety scale (n = 334), finding that this captured some, but not all, experiences of eco-anxiety. We found that people were anxious about a range of environmental conditions and their personal negative impact on the planet. Notably, people’s anxiety about different environmental conditions (e.g., climate change, environmental degradation, pollution) were interconnected, lending support for the existence of eco-anxiety (a broader construct that encompasses climate change anxiety). These results informed further scale development in Study Two. Exploratory (n = 365) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 370) supported a final 13-item scale that captured four dimensions of eco-anxiety: affective symptoms, rumination, behavioural symptoms, and anxiety about one’s negative impact on the planet, which were each distinct from stress, anxiety and depression. A further longitudinal sample (n = 189) established the stability of these factors across time. Findings support eco-anxiety as a quantifiable psychological experience, reliably measured using our 13-item eco-anxiety scale, and differentiated from mental health outcomes.

与众多生态危机或生态焦虑有关的焦虑是一个具有越来越重要研究意义的主题。我们使用多研究混合方法设计来探索澳大利亚和新西兰的生态焦虑，验证新的生态焦虑量表。在研究一中，我们开发并测试了一个 7 项生态焦虑量表（n = 334），发现这捕获了一些（但不是全部）生态焦虑的经历。我们发现人们对一系列环境条件及其对地球的个人负面影响感到焦虑。值得注意的是，人们对不同环境条件（例如气候变化、环境退化、污染）的焦虑是相互关联的，为生态焦虑（一个包含气候变化焦虑的更广泛的结构）的存在提供了支持。这些结果为研究二的进一步规模发展提供了信息。探索性 ( n  = 365) 和验证性因子分析 ( n = 370) 支持最终的 13 项量表，该量表捕获了生态焦虑的四个维度：情感症状、沉思、行为症状和对自己对地球的负面影响的焦虑，这三个维度都与压力、焦虑和抑郁不同。另一个纵向样本 ( n  = 189) 确定了这些因素随时间的稳定性。研究结果支持生态焦虑作为一种可量化的心理体验，使用我们的 13 项生态焦虑量表进行可靠测量，并与心理健康结果区分开来。