Poster #30 - From Social Vulnerability to Mental Distress: Climate Change Beliefs and Risk Perceptions as Potential Psychological Pathways

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Climate change threatens mental health, yet the psychological pathways linking social vulnerability to mental health risks remain insufficiently examined. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT), this study uses county-level data to examine the extent to which climate change beliefs (high-level construal) and risk perceptions (low-level construal) mediate the association between social vulnerability and frequent mental distress. Integrating frequent mental distress, social vulnerability, and climate change opinion measures for all 3,144 U.S. counties in 2022, we estimated two separate structural equation models to quantify the direct and indirect associations between social vulnerability and frequent mental distress. Social vulnerability was the dominant predictor of frequent mental distress, with poverty and disability showing the strongest direct associations in both models. Beyond these direct effects, climate change beliefs and risk perceptions carried significant indirect effects for three of the four social vulnerability indicators in each model. Educational disadvantage showed a significant positive indirect association through beliefs, lack of health insurance showed one through risk perceptions. Though the direct effects of social vulnerability on frequent mental distress were the strongest, current findings identify climate change beliefs and risk perceptions as additional potential psychological pathways linking social vulnerability to frequent mental distress. This pattern underscores the central role of addressing social vulnerability in climate-related mental health policy.

Authors

• Yueyang Feng, Clemson University
  Presenting Author

• Chien-fei Chen, Clemson University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Jody S Nicholson, Clemson University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author