Disrupting the Climate Distress Cascade: Testing Community-Grounded Theories of Change Using Secondary Data From a Cross-Sectional Canadian Study

Abstract

Background Climate change is increasingly recognized as a source of significant psychological distress. How can we best minimize its mental health impacts? This study examines community-grounded theories of change by modelling how cognitive, emotional, and social processes shape climate-related psychological distress and adaptation. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed Canadian adults, measuring climate change perceptions (reality, causes, consequences, and psychological distance), climate worry, psychological distress, climate change anxiety, resilience, social support, belonging, and pro-environmental behaviour. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test three theoretically informed models: (1) a cascade from climate perceptions to distress via worry and impairment, (2) a social-ecological model of support, resilience, and belonging, and action and (3) a combined model integrating cognitive, emotional, and social pathways. Results Of 840 participants, 665 completed the survey. The mean sample age was 45·3 years (SD = 18·17). 70·3% identified as women, 18·3% as men, and 11·4% as gender diverse. Model 1 and Model 2 showed excellent fit. Model 3, which had a strong fit, showed that greater climate change perceptions predicted higher climate worry (β = 0·46, p <0·001), which led to greater impairment (β = 0·91, p <0·001), which led to distress (β = 0·32, p <0·001). Greater climate change perceptions had a buffering effect on impairment (β = -0·21, p < 0·001) and predicted distress (β = 0·55, p < 0·001). Stronger social networks predicted increased belonging (β = 0·85, p <0·001) and resilience (β = 0·61, p <0·001), each of which buffered psychological distress (resilience: β = -0·29, p <0·001; belonging: β = -0·06, p = 0·028). Resilience was a buffer against climate change perceptions (β = -0·43, p <0·001) and climate change worry (β = -0·28, p <0·001). Pro-environmental action predicted stronger climate change perceptions and climate worry (perceptions: β = 0·38, p <0·001; worry: β = 0·33, p <0·001). Conclusion These findings support the value of community-based and psychologically informed approaches for minimizing climate-related psychological distress. Interventions that prioritize social support and emotional skills, together with accurate climate communication, may be critical for fostering mental health and collective resilience in a changing climate.