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Intersection Between Eco-Anxiety and Lexical Labels: A Study on Mental Health in Spanish-Language Digital Media

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Eco-anxiety and solastalgia are psychological responses to environmental degradation and climate change. This study examines how these concepts are represented in Spanish-language digital media, considering both emotional dimensions and the profiles of content producers. METHODS: We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis of 120 Spanish-language items (online news articles and selected posts from digital platforms) published between October 2023 and March 2024. Items were identified using a Boolean search strategy and initially filtered by LIWC to detect high emotional-and-anxiety term density; final coding followed grounded-theory procedures, resulting in four thematic categories. RESULTS: The most frequent theme was environmental activism (41%), followed by catastrophic thinking (29%), coping strategies (25%), and loss of meaningful places (6%). Among content producers, citizen participants represented 40%, youth activists 25%, and scientists 15%. Digital media function both as sources of anxiety-inducing content and as spaces for awareness-raising and support. CONCLUSIONS: While eco-anxiety is not a clinical diagnosis, it exerts a significant psychological impact-particularly on youth and vulnerable groups. Spanish-language digital platforms play an ambivalent role, amplifying distress yet enabling resilience and collective action. Future interventions should leverage these channels to foster environmental awareness, emotional resilience, and civic engagement.

Source: Behavioral Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/bs15081102