Phd in DYNAMIC AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Thesis title: Cambiamento climatico e salute mentale: l'eco-ansia in Italia

This thesis work aims to analyse the effects of climate change on mental health in the Italian population with a particular focus on the psychological construct of eco-anxiety and through four empirical studies. Research in psychology capable of combining the clinical and methodological aspects has in fact made it possible to study and highlight the psychological effects of climate change on individuals and their consequences in the short, medium and long term, and to analyse new psychological constructs to describe discomforts or emotional responses to phenomena linked to climate change such as eco-anxiety. The latter will be analysed, through an initial empirical study, in its main characteristics and manifestations, starting with the distinction between it, climate change anxiety and climate change concern. Following this, the manifestations of eco-anxiety in Italy will be presented, through the Italian validation of the Hogg's Eco-Anxiety Scale. After delving into the clinical aspects of eco-anxiety, the frame of the Semiotic-Cultural Psychology Theory will be introduced to explain how cultural patterns and worldviews can affect the emotional and behavioural responses of the population in the face of the climate crisis. In particular, two empirical investigations will analyse how worldviews active in the population can generate different manifestations of eco-anxiety and how these can be moderators in the adoption of pro-environmental behaviour. The third research will examine the role of cultural models in the construction of positive attitudes towards the implementation of a renewable energy plant. All studies presented in this thesis are adaptations of original research I conducted and published in peer-reviewed journals. The aim of these studies was to show, on the one hand, how climate change is not only a threat to the environment but also to the mental health of populations, and, on the other, how necessary it is to adopt a holistic approach that integrates the clinical, cultural and behavioural dimensions of eco-anxiety, involving all social actors in the process of climate change mitigation and adaptation.