Worried About Earth’s Future? Study Reveals How Students Cope

UTAH — More than half of undergraduate students say they often feel helpless and frustrated when thinking about the effects of climate change. However, support to help them cope with this anxiety remains limited.

“They are not alone. Many students feel the same way, and it is likely that many adults do too,” said Jennifer Follstad Shah, a lecturer in the University of Utah’s Department of Environmental, Society and Sustainability, as quoted by Phys.org on Wednesday (4 November 2026).

The findings come from an interdisciplinary study led by Follstad Shah. The research team surveyed 547 University of Utah students to examine their emotional responses to climate change and the factors influencing those feelings.

The results showed that 54 per cent of respondents often or very often felt helpless because of climate change. Meanwhile, 55 per cent said they frequently felt frustrated.

By contrast, only 4 per cent said they felt very hopeful about the planet’s future. However, when all response categories were taken into account, about 40 per cent of students still felt some degree of hope.

The study also found that students with higher levels of general anxiety tended to experience greater climate anxiety. The researchers stressed, however, that this finding does not prove a causal relationship between the two.

“Even so, climate-related anxiety may be one factor that triggers general anxiety, and vice versa,” Follstad Shah said.

Students enrolled in environmental programmes reported higher climate anxiety than those studying other subjects, although their levels of general anxiety were broadly similar. However, subject area was no longer a significant factor after the researchers accounted for several other variables.

These included how often students received information about climate change, whether they viewed it as a personal issue, and their political orientation.

Students who regarded climate change as a personal concern and held more liberal political views tended to report greater climate anxiety. Exposure to information about climate change through university courses and the internet was also associated with anxiety levels. Information obtained from friends, family and colleagues showed no similar association.

The findings complement earlier research led by Monika Lohani, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Utah. That study examined the different ways students manage climate anxiety.

It found that students felt calmer when spending time in nature, meeting friends or playing with pets. They also practised self-care, changed their everyday behaviour and deepened their knowledge of climate change to ease their emotional distress.