Climate Anxiety Plagues University Students, Yet Support Services Remain Limited
A University of Utah study reveals widespread climate-related anxiety among college undergraduates, with over half reporting frequent feelings of powerlessness and frustration. The emotional burden affects students across disciplines, not just environmental majors. Support strategies like nature exposure, social connection, and education were found to reduce distress and foster hope.
A 2026 University of Utah study involving 547 undergraduates revealed that over half (54% to 55%) frequently experience powerlessness and frustration due to climate change, with only 4% reporting frequent hope. The research, led by Jennifer Follstad Shah in the School of Environment, Society & Sustainability and supported by Monika Lohani from the Department of Psychology and the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU), surveyed students across environmental studies and communication courses. While environmental majors reported higher anxiety levels, the study found that major was not a significant predictor once factors like personal concern, political views, and exposure to climate information were considered. Students with liberal views and those who regularly encountered climate content in class or online reported greater anxiety, while information from friends and family had no such effect. The companion study by Lohani identified both adaptive (nature exposure, social connection, behavioral change, education) and maladaptive (avoidance, shutdown, catastrophizing) coping mechanisms. Despite these findings, support services remain limited. Students expressed a desire for more peer and mentor discussions on climate issues and highlighted the Good Grief Network—co-founded by 2014 Environmental Humanities graduate LaUra Schmidt—as a model for peer-led emotional support. Researchers urge universities to expand mental health resources and integrate climate-related coping strateg
The study underscores a growing societal challenge: the psychological toll of ecological crisis on young adults, particularly in academic settings where awareness is high. As climate anxiety becomes more recognized, institutions may face pressure to adapt mental health services—potentially reshaping student wellness programs and curriculum design. This could influence broader trends in higher education, with universities possibly integrating emotional resilience training into sustainability or science courses. Comparable to the rise of mindfulness programs in corporate workplaces during the 2010s, climate-focused mental health support may become a standard institutional response. However, the long-term impact on student engagement, retention, and activism remains uncertain—could increased awareness fuel civic participation, or might chronic distress lead to disengagement? The role of peer networks like the Good Grief Network suggests community-based solutions may be more effective than