Representations of Youth Climate Anxiety: A Framing Analysis of Emotional Responses to the Climate Crisis in International News Media

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dc.citation.volumeLatest Articles
dc.contributor.authorMurray L
dc.contributor.authorBreheny M
dc.contributor.authorCumming R
dc.contributor.authorDoig T
dc.contributor.authorErueti B
dc.contributor.authorMooney M
dc.contributor.authorSeverinsen C
dc.contributor.authorShanly J
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-16T22:58:05Z
dc.date.available2025-06-16T22:58:05Z
dc.date.issued2025-06-02
dc.description.abstractReports of children feeling distressed, anxious, or angry about the impacts of climate change have appeared in the international news media with increasing frequency since 2019. There is international evidence that young people are increasingly worried about climate change, and such distress negatively affects their daily lives. The ways that such distress is framed in public discourse vary widely. We conducted a framing analysis of 274 articles from the international news media (published between 2019 and 2021) to explore how the media frames young peoples' emotional reactions to the climate crisis. Our findings revealed three key frames: (1) Climate distress as inevitable “teen angst” fueled by activists and the media. (2) Climate distress as an appropriate response to a genuine threat, and (3) Climate distress as embodied social suffering caused by societal inaction on climate change. These framings of negative emotional responses to climate change have implications for public health responses to youth mental health in a changing climate. Framing distress in terms of social suffering brings about productive possibilities for social change. This framing avoids pathologizing widely felt experiences, builds empathy between generations, and situates young people's mental distress in the context of their present and unfolding social milieu.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.format.pagination1-16
dc.identifier.citationMurray L, Breheny M, Cumming R, Doig T, Erueti B, Mooney M, Severinsen C, Shanly J. (2025). Representations of Youth Climate Anxiety: A Framing Analysis of Emotional Responses to the Climate Crisis in International News Media. Environmental Communication. Latest Articles. (pp. 1-16).
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/17524032.2025.2510374
dc.identifier.eissn1752-4040
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn1752-4032
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73074
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis Group
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2025.2510374
dc.relation.isPartOfEnvironmental Communication
dc.rights(c) The author/sen
dc.rights.licenseCC BY-NC-NDen
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectClimate change
dc.subjectsocial suffering
dc.subjectplanetary health
dc.subjectmental health
dc.subjectyouth
dc.titleRepresentations of Youth Climate Anxiety: A Framing Analysis of Emotional Responses to the Climate Crisis in International News Media
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id501149
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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