The Prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress Among American Adults

The document provides statistical data on climate change psychological distress among American adults, using the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 scales. It finds that 3% of the total U.S. population meets the cut-off for clinically diagnosable climate anxiety and 3% for climate depression. Hispanic/Latino adults show the highest rates of distress, with 17% experiencing some level of climate change psychological distress and 21% expressing interest in discussing their feelings with a counselor or therapist.

• Across the total U.S. population, 3% of adults meet the cut-off for presumptive clinically significant levels of climate change anxiety (GAD-2 scale) and 3% meet the cut-off for presumptive clinically significant levels of climate change depression (PHQ-2 scale).
• Hispanic/Latino adults exhibit the highest prevalence of climate-related psychological distress across all measured categories: 10% for climate anxiety, 10% for climate depression, and a total of 17% experiencing mild, moderate, or severe psychological distress.
• Among the total U.S. population, 7% of adults experience some level of climate change psychological distress, with 1% categorized as severe, 2% as moderate, and 5% as mild.
• Interest in discussing feelings about global warming with a counselor or therapist is highest among Hispanic/Latino adults at 21%, followed by Gen Z/Millennials at 13%. For the total U.S. population, 8% express interest.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (n.d.). The Prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress Among American Adults. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/climate-change-psychological-distress-prevalence-data-tables.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. The Prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress Among American Adults. n.d. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/climate-change-psychological-distress-prevalence-data-tables.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=The Prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress Among American Adults |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/climate-change-psychological-distress-prevalence-data-tables.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunicationndprevalence, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{The Prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress Among American Adults}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/climate-change-psychological-distress-prevalence-data-tables.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }