Relationship Between Eco-Anxiety and Student Attitude Towards Environmental Protection at Secondary Level in Mirpur Aj&K

Abstract

Youth are often affected by eco-anxiety, a long-term sense of fear of environmental catastrophe, which is frequently driven by the worsening environmental situation all over the world. With the importance of the adolescent population in the future sustainability, this quantitative research explores the relationship between the level of eco-anxiety of the school student and what attitudes they have towards protecting the environment after facing the problem. A cross-sectional survey design was used where data was collected from a sample of 316 school children in Mirpur region. Correlation and regression analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. Results showed that there was a high and moderate positive correlation between the eco-anxiety of school students and positive environmental attitudes (r = .451; p<0.001). Specifically, it was found that eco-anxiety was a significant predictor of pro-environmental attitude (β = [0.257], p<0.001). For young learners, psychological distress regarding environment is sometimes accompanied by a pro-active engagement instead of just paralysis, the findings indicate. The study suggests that teacher preparation and school-based interventions centered on 'transformative environmental pedagogy' could be incorporated into the curriculum in order to equip teachers with the opportunity to support students to turn their anxiety into constructive and sustainable action.