“The psychological impact of climate change: a challenge for the new generations” is the title of the all-Italian research, unique in the international scientific panorama, which investigates the phenomenon of eco-anxiety, or rather the anxiety linked to climate change, in children aged between 5 and 11 and which will be presented on Tuesday 11 June at 10am at the University of Pavia (Sala Chiesetta). The research – carried out by ScuolAttiva Onlus with the scientific supervision of the Health Psychology Laboratory of the Department of Nervous System and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Pavia and in collaboration with Triplepact Società Benefit – involved a sample of almost 1,000 school students primary schools as part of the educational project “At the school of water” supported by Sanpellegrino.
“More and more people are experiencing a sense of anguish related to the global climate crisis even without being directly or indirectly affected by it,” we read in a statement. In other words, just learning about the consequences of climate change through the media “can affect people’s mental health by generating a variety of emotions, including guilt, sadness and anger and contributing to what has been defined as ‘eco-anxiety. ‘ by the American Psychological Association (APA)”. Scientific literature on this phenomenon is rapidly emerging in adults but very little is known about how children experience this situation. Hence the need for research from which very interesting data emerge which gives a picture of the urgency of concrete and immediate actions to support the new generations on the topic through educational and training activities. Eco-anxiety, in fact, explain the promoters of the research, “although it is not a pathology, it represents a stress factor that must absolutely be monitored to prevent it from resulting in mental health disorders”.
Opening the proceedings on 11 June will be Simona Malpezzi, vice-president of the Parliamentary Commission for childhood and adolescence, and Hellas Cena, vice-rector of the Third Mission of the University of Pavia. Speakers will be Fabiana Marchini, Head of Sustainability Sanpellegrino Group; Simona Frassone, president of ScuolAttiva Onlus; Renato Borgatti, professor of Neuropsychiatry. head of the clinical neuroscience section of the University of Pavia; Serena Barello, associate of health psychology at nervous system and behavioral sciences of the same University; Cinzia Pilo, president of Triplepact Benefit Society; Monica Capuzzi (Lombardy regional school office).
