SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Anatolian Journal of Health Research / 2026 / Cilt: 7 Sayı: 1

The relationship between climate change awareness and anxiety levels and fertility attitudes in nulliparous women

Nullipar kadınların iklı̇m değı̇şı̇klı̇ğı̇ farkındalık ve kaygı düzeyleri ile doğurganlık tutumu arasındakı̇ ı̇lı̇şki

Sultan Özkan Şat(BITLIS EREN UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-9951-4073
Pınar Akbaş(KARABUK UNIVERSITY)0000-0003-3931-8035
Pages
20–26
Publication Date
2026-04-30
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Women with high climate-related anxiety are more likely to have a positive attitude towards childbearing in the future.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationships between climate change awareness, climate-related anxiety, and fertility attitudes among nulliparous women aged 20-30 years.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Data were collected from 340 nulliparous women using the Introductory Information Form, the Climate Change Awareness Scale (CCAS), the Climate Change Worry Scale (CCWS), and the Attitudes Toward Fertility and Childbearing Scale (AFCS).
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Women with high climate-related anxiety are more likely to have a positive attitude towards childbearing in the future.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:anksiyete · doğurganlık · farkındalık

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationships between climate change awareness, climate-related anxiety, and fertility attitudes among nulliparous women aged 20-30 years. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was employed. Data were collected from 340 nulliparous women using the Introductory Information Form, the Climate Change Awareness Scale (CCAS), the Climate Change Worry Scale (CCWS), and the Attitudes Toward Fertility and Childbearing Scale (AFCS). Results: The mean score of the CCAS-Awareness subscale was 33.25±4.75, the total mean score of the CCWS was 29.90±7.97, and the mean scores of the Helplessness and Worry subscales were 7.90±3.07 and 22.00±5.46, respectively. The mean AFCS total score was 70.31±11.33, and the mean scores of the future importance, present obstacles, and womanhood identity subdimensions were 23.73±7.08, 32.33±7.44, and 14.24±4.94, respectively. A significant relationship was found between the mean score of the CCAS-Awareness subscale and the CCWS total and subscale (Helplessness and Worry) mean scores; additionally, significant relationships were identified between the total and subscale mean scores of the CCWS and the total and subscale mean scores of the AFCS (p<0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that the women in the sample had high levels of climate change awareness and moderate levels of climate change anxiety. As climate change awareness increases, climate change anxiety also increases. Women with high climate-related anxiety are more likely to have a positive attitude towards childbearing in the future.

Özet

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı 20-30 yaş arası nullipar kadınlarda iklim değişikliği farkındalık, ve iklim değişikliği kaygı düzeyleri ile doğurganlık tutumları arasındaki ilişkiyi değerlendirmektir. Yöntem: Bu çalışma tanımlayıcı korelasyonel bir çalışmadır. Çalışmaya toplamda 340 kişi katılmıştır. Araştırma verileri, Tanıtıcı Bilgi Formu ile İklim Değişikliği Farkındalık Ölçeği (İDFÖ), İklim Değişikliği Endişe Ölçeği (İDEÖ) ve Doğurganlık ve Çocuk Sahibi Olmaya Yönelik Tutum Ölçeği (AFCS) kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Bulgular: İDFÖ-Farkındalık alt boyutu puan ortalaması 33.25±4.75, İDEÖ toplam puan ortalaması 29.90±7.97 olup Çaresizlik ve Endişe alt boyut puan ortalamaları sırasıyla 7.90±3.07 ve 22.00±5.46 olarak tespit edimiştir. AFCS toplam puan ortalaması 70.31±11.33, geleceğin önemi, şimdiki engeller ve kadınlık kimliği alt boyut puan ortalamaları ise sırasıyla 23.73±7.08, 32.33±7.44 ve 14.24±4.94'tür. İDFÖ Farkındalık alt boyutu puan ortalaması ile İDEÖ toplam ve alt boyutları (Çaresizlik ve Endişe) puan ortalamaları arasında; ayrıca, İDEÖ toplam ve alt boyut puan ortalamaları ile AFCS toplam puan ve alt boyut puan ortalamaları arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmuştur (p<0.05). Sonuçlar: Bu çalışmada, örneklemdeki kadınların yüksek düzeyde iklim değişikliği farkındalığı ve orta düzeyde iklim değişikliği kaygısına sahip olduğu ortaya konulmuştur. Kadınların iklim değişikliği farkındalığı arttıkça iklim değişikliği kaygısı da artmaktadır. İklimle ilgili kaygısı yüksek olan kadınların gelecekte çocuk doğurmaya yönelik olumlu tutum sergileme olasılığı daha yüksektir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Şat, S. Ö., Akbaş, P. (2026). The relationship between climate change awareness and anxiety levels and fertility attitudes in nulliparous women. Anatolian Journal of Health Research, Cilt: 7 Sayı: 1, 20–26. https://doi.org/10.61534/anatoljhr.1628945

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (33)

  1. Abbasi, A., Sadeghi, R., Maleki, A., & Balakhani, G. (2022). A meta-analysis of factors related to fertility attitudes, desires, and childbearing intentions in Iranian studies. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 14(4), 63-92. https://doi.org/10.22035/isih.2021.4546.4509
  2. Agache, I., Akdis, C., Akdis, M., Al-Hemoud, A., Annesi-Maesano, I., Balmes, J., Cecchi, L., Damialis, A., Haahtela, T., Haber, A.L., Hart, J.E., Jutel, M., Mitamura, Y., Mmbaga, B.T., Oh, J-W., Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Pawankar, R., Prunicki, M., Renz, H.,. & Nadeau, K. C. (2024). Immune-mediated disease caused by climate change-associated environmental hazards: mitigation and adaptation. Frontiers in Science, 2, 1279192. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsci.2024.1279192
  3. Ajzen, I., & Klobas, J. (2013). Fertility intentions: An approach based on the theory of planned behavior. Demographic Research, 29, 203-232. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2013.29.8
  4. Ataklı, G., & Kuran, H. (2022). İklim değişikliği farkındalık ölçeğinin geliştirilmesi scale. Biological Diversity and Conservation, 15(2), 150-161. https://doi.org/10.46309/biodicon.2022.1079715
  5. Balla, J., & Hagger, M. S. (2025). Protection motivation theory and health behaviour: conceptual review, discussion of limitations, and recommendations for best practice and future research. Health Psychology Review, 19(1), 145–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2024.2413011
  6. Ballew, M. T., Pearson, A. R., Goldberg, M. H., Rosenthal, S. A., & Leiserowitz, A. (2020). Does socioeconomic status moderate the political divide on climate change? The roles of education, income, and individualism. Global Environmental Change, 60, 102024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.102024
  7. Bielawska-Batorowicz, E., Zagaj, K., Kossakowska, K. (2022). Reproductive intentions affected by perceptions of climate change and attitudes toward death. Behavior Science (Basel), 12(10), 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12100374
  8. Bowen, K. J., Ebi, K. L., Woodward, A., McIver, L., Tukuitonga, C., & Nayna Schwerdtle, P. (2024). Human health and climate change in the Pacific: a review of current knowledge. Climate and Development, 16(2), 119-133. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2023.2185479
  9. Damar, E., & Bolsoy, N. (2021). Doğurganlık ve çocuk doğurmaya yönelik tutum ölçeği Türkçe formunun geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. International Anatolia Academic Online Journal Health Sciences, 7(3), 1-34. https://izlik.org/JA95RX45RF
  10. Ediz, Ç., & Yanik, D. (2023). The effects of climate change awareness on mental health: comparison of climate anxiety and hopelessness levels in Turkish youth. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 69(8), 2157-2166. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640231206060
  11. Fasfous, M. W., Abdel-Fattah, M. N., & Ibrahim, S. A. (2025). The impact of climate change awareness on fertility intentions in Palestinian society: Mediating role of threat perception. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(8), 1228. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081228
  12. Firouzbakht, M., Tirgar, A., Hajian-Tilaki, K., Ebadi, A., Bakouei, F., Nikpour, M., & Riahi, M. E. (2018). Social capital and fertility behaviors among female workers in healthcare settings: study protocol of a sequential explanatory mixed methods study. Reproductive Health, 15(1), 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-018-0507-6
  13. Gerlagh, R., Lupi, V., & Galeotti, M. (2023). Fertility and climate change. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 125(1), 208-252. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12520
  14. Gezer, M., & İlhan, M. (2021). İklim değişikliği endişesi ölçeği: Türkçeye uyarlama çalışması. Ege Coğrafya Dergisi, 30(1), 195-204. https://doi.org/10.51800/ecd.932817
  15. Goldberg, M. H., van der Linden, S., Leiserowitz, A., & Maibach, E. (2020). Perceived social consensus can reduce ideological biases on climate change. Environment and Behavior, 52(5), 495-517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916519853302
  16. Helm, S., Kemper, J. A., & White, S. K. (2021). No future, no kids–no kids, no future? An exploration of motivations to remain childfree in times of climate change. Population and Environment, 43, 108-129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-021-00379-5
  17. Jakučionytė-Skodienė, M., & Liobikienė, G. (2022). The changes in climate change concern, responsibility assumption and impact on climate-friendly behaviour in EU from the Paris agreement until 2019. Environmental Management, 69(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01574-8
  18. Özkan, A., Kolcu, M., Yilmaz, A., & Akbaş, G. (2025). Is ecological anxiety due to climate change associated with the fertility preferences of women?. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 31(1), e14265. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.14265
  19. Philipsborn, R. P., & Chan, K. (2018). Climate change and global child health. Pediatrics, 141(6), e20173774. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3774
  20. Romanello, M., McGushin, A., Di Napoli, C., Drummond, P., Hughes, N., Jamart, L., Kennard, H., Lampard, P., Rodriguez, B.S., Arnell, N., Ayeb-Karlson, S., Belesova, K., Cai, W., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Capstick, S., Chambers, J., Chu, L., Ciampi, L., Dalin, C.,. & Hamilton, I. (2021). The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future. The Lancet, 398(10311), 1619-1662. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01787-6
  21. Schenk, E. C., Cook, C., Demorest, S., & Burduli, E. (2021). Climate, health, and nursing tool (CHANT): initial survey results. Public Health Nursing, 38(2), 152-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.12864
  22. Schneider-Mayerson, M., & Leong, K. L. (2020). Eco-reproductive concerns in the age of climate change. Climatic Change, 163(2), 1007-1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02923-y
  23. Smith, D. M., Sales, J., Williams, A., & Munro, S. (2023). Pregnancy intentions of young women in Canada in the era of climate change: A qualitative auto-photography study. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 766. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15674-z
  24. Söderberg, M., Lundgren, I., Christensson, K., & Hildingsson, I. (2013). Attitudes toward fertility and childbearing scale: an assessment of a new instrument for women who are not yet mothers in Sweden. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 13(1), 197. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-13-197
  25. Stewart, A. E. (2021). Psychometric properties of the climate change worry scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 494. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020494
  26. Sun, Y., & Han, Z. (2018). Climate change risk perception in Taiwan: Correlation with individual and societal factors. International Journal Of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1), 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010091
  27. Topsakal, Ö., & Çevik, E. (2025). Climate change awareness: Does It affect the fertility desire? Public Health Nursing, 42(5), 1595-1604. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.13568
  28. Van Valkengoed, A. M., & Steg, L. (2019). Meta-analyses of factors motivating climate change adaptation behaviour. Nature Climate Change, 9(2), 158-163.
  29. Whitmarsh, L., Player, L., Jiongco, A., James, M., Williams, M., Marks, E., & Kennedy-Williams, P. (2022). Climate anxiety: What predicts it and how is it related to climate action?. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 83, 101866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101866
  30. Yilmaz, V., & Can, Y. (2020). Impact of knowledge, concern and awareness about global warming and global climatic change on environmental behavior. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22(7), 6245-6260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00475-5
  31. Zimmermann, G., Darwiche, J., Messerli-Bürgy, N., Van Petegem, S., Mouton, B., Venard, G., & Antonietti, J. P. (2024). “Bringing children in a burning world?” The role of climate anxiety and threat perceptions in childbearing motivations of emerging adults in Switzerland. Emerging Adulthood, 12(5), 925-938. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968241258270
  32. Agache, I., Akdis, C., Akdis, M., Al-Hemoud, A., Annesi-Maesano, I., Balmes, J., Cecchi, L., Damialis, A., Haahtela, T., Haber, A.L., Hart, J.E., Jutel, M., Mitamura, Y., Mmbaga, B.T., Oh, J-W., Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Pawankar, R., Prunicki, M., Renz, H.,. & Nadeau, K. C. (2024). Immune-mediated disease caused by climate change-associated environmental hazards: mitigation and adaptation. Frontiers in Science, 2, 1279192. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsci.2024.1279192
  33. Romanello, M., McGushin, A., Di Napoli, C., Drummond, P., Hughes, N., Jamart, L., Kennard, H., Lampard, P., Rodriguez, B.S., Arnell, N., Ayeb-Karlson, S., Belesova, K., Cai, W., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Capstick, S., Chambers, J., Chu, L., Ciampi, L., Dalin, C.,. & Hamilton, I. (2021). The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future. The Lancet, 398(10311), 1619-1662. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01787-6