Climate change anxiety and sleep problems in the older adults.

Objectives: Climate change has an impact on the prevalence of insufficient sleep and sleep disorders. This study aimed to examine climate change anxiety and sleep problems in older adults individuals.

Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out with 664 participants between July 9 and September 10, 2024. A Personal Information Form, the Climate Change Anxiety Scale, and the Insomnia Severity Index were used for data collection. In the data analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare demographic variables with the climate change anxiety scale and insomnia severity index.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 71.49 ± 6.21 years and more than half of the participants were female (54.4%). The mean score of the participants on the Climate Change Anxiety Scale was 1.68 ± 0.80 and their mean score on the Insomnia Severity Index was 12.56 ± 6.91. There was a positive correlation between the Climate Change Anxiety Scale and the Insomnia Severity Index (r = 0.26, p = 0.00). The insomnia variable explained 7% of the change in the Climate Change Anxiety score (R² = 0.07, p = 0.00).

Conclusion: Older adults experience anxiety and sleep problems regarding climate change and sleep problems in older adults increase as climate change anxiety increases.