Eco-Anxiety and Coping Strategies: A Systematic Review of Psychological Responses to Climate Change

Abstract

Eco-anxiety is a psychological response resulting from concerns about climate change and environmental degradation. This phenomenon relates to how individuals use coping strategies to manage the anxiety that arises. This study aims to identify forms of coping with eco-anxiety through a systematic review. The literature search was conducted using Publish or Perish and PubMed with a combination of Boolean operator-based keywords. Article selection followed the PRISMA guidelines and was assisted by the Rayyan application, with inclusion criteria focusing on articles from 2016–2026 that addressed eco-anxiety and coping. A total of 12 articles were analyzed. The results indicated that coping strategies include problem-focused, emotion-focused, meaning-focused, social coping, collective coping, and maladaptive coping. Adaptive coping plays a role in enhancing hope, social support, and engagement with environmental issues, whereas maladaptive coping-such as avoidance, denial, distancing, and rumination-has the potential to increase psychological distress. These findings suggest that eco-anxiety is not always maladaptive but can serve as an adaptive response when individuals employ appropriate coping strategies.