Climate change anxiety and sleep problems in the older adults
Havva Gezgin Yazıcı, Çiğdem Ökten, Latife Utaş Akhan
Abstract
Objectives Climate change has an impact on the prevalence of insufficient sleep and sleep disorders. This study aimed to examine climate change anxiety and sleep problems in older adults individuals.Method This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out with 664 participants between July 9 and September 10, 2024. A Personal Information Form, the Climate Change Anxiety Scale, and the Insomnia Severity Index were used for data collection. In the data analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare demographic variables with the climate change anxiety scale and insomnia severity index.Results The mean age of the participants was 71.49 ± 6.21 years and more than half of the participants were female (54.4%). The mean score of the participants on the Climate Change Anxiety Scale was 1.68 ± 0.80 and their mean score on the Insomnia Severity Index was 12.56 ± 6.91. There was a positive correlation between the Climate Change Anxiety Scale and the Insomnia Severity Index (r = 0.26, p = 0.00). The insomnia variable explained 7% of the change in the Climate Change Anxiety score (R2 = 0.07, p = 0.00).Conclusion Older adults experience anxiety and sleep problems regarding climate change and sleep problems in older adults increase as climate change anxiety increases.