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RELATION BETWEEN DASS 21-R RESULTS AND SENSITIVITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Abstract
Over the past two decades, research on the impact of global environmental change has underscored the increasing effects of climate change and the associated natural disasters on mental health. The present article aims to highlight the correlation between the mental health of the studied population and the way in which the subjects relate to climate change. The objective of the research was to investigate whether people with high scores on the Romanian version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21R) also have a high level of sensitivity to climate change. DASS-21R and the scale of sensitivity to climate change were applied to a sample of 155 subjects, 114 women and 41 men, with a mean age of 38,89 years. The research investigates whether the population with high scores on DASS-21 subscales is a vulnerable group, with a greater sensitivity to climate change, being more likely to perceive the negative effects of these events than the population with normal scores. The results show a weak, positive, statistically significant correlation between the levels of depression, anxiety and stress and the subjectsВ’ concern about climate change, experienced after indirect exposure to such events. There was also a weak, positive, statistically significant correlation between stress scores and the global level of concern about climate change. A one-way ANOVA analysis emphasized statistically significant differences between subjects with normal or mild and moderate stress scores and those with severe and extremely severe stress scores, in terms of their levels of concern about climate change (irrespective of the type of exposure). A Jonckheere-Terpstra test highlighted a statistically significant trend between the subjectsВ’ stress scores and their levels of concern about climate change (i.e. their level of concern about climate change increases with the increase in stress level).
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