Table of Contents
Abstract
The Climate Change—Model (Asgarizadeh, Gifford, & Colborne, 2023) was developed as an inventory/questionnaire to assess multiple predictors of anxiety related to climate change. This measurement model, consisting of 60 items adapted from previous sources, was designed for a study conducted with a sample of North American adults. The constructs evaluated included knowledge, prior experience, worry, risk perception, and media exposure regarding climate change. Reliability results were reported for these items.
Keywords
Climate Change Anxiety, Climate Change Knowledge, Climate Change Risk Perception, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Global Warming Worry, Measurement Model, Media Exposure About Climate Change Information, Personal Experience of Climate Change
Authors
Asgarizadeh, Zahra; Gifford, Robert; Colborne, Lauren
Purpose
The primary purpose of this measurement model is to examine various aspects related to climate change, including knowledge, prior experience, worry, risk perception, and media exposure, to understand their predictive role in climate change anxiety.
Validity
No data is Available.
Reliability
Internal Consistency: The multi-item scales demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities ranging from α = 0.85 to 0.95. This indicates a high degree of interrelatedness among the items within each scale.
Factor Analysis
No data is Available.
Instrument: Climate Change—Model
Test Type
Original Inventory/Questionnaire.
Format
The scoring for the Climate Change—Model varies across its subscales:
Climate change knowledge: Items are rated as Correct (1) or Incorrect (0).
Personal experience of climate change: Items are scored on a 5-point scale from Never (1) to Almost always (5).
Generalized anxiety disorder: Measured on a 4-point scale from Never (1) to Nearly every day (4).
Climate change risk perception: Rated using 7-point scales (e.g., Not serious at all (1) to Very serious (7)).
Global warming worry: Rated from Never (1) to Almost always (5).
Media exposure about climate change information: Items are scored from Never (1) to More than 10 times per day (9).
Climate change anxiety: Scored from Never (1) to Almost always (7).
Language Available
English.
Population Group
Human, including Male and Female genders.
Age Group
Adulthood (18 years and older).
Population Details
The study involved North American adults, with reported gender identities including Male, Female, Non-Binary/Third Gender, and Prefer Not to Say. Respondents were located in Canada and the United States.
Test Methodology
The development and evaluation of this instrument involved Test Reliability and Internal Consistency assessments within a Measurement Model framework.
Keywords
Climate Change, Environmental Measures, Climate Anxiety, Climate Change Attitudes.
Authors
Author ORCID Identifier:
Robert Gifford: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2764-3810
Affiliation:
Zahra Asgarizadeh: University of Victoria, Department of Psychology
Robert Gifford: University of Victoria, Department of Psychology
Lauren Colborne: University of Victoria, Department of Psychology
Email addresses:
Robert Gifford: [email protected]
Correspondence Address:
Robert Gifford: University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V8W 2Y2, [email protected]
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
Permissions: May be used for Research/Teaching purposes.
Fee: No fee is required for use.
Test Year: 2023.
References
Asgarizadeh, Z., Gifford, R., & Colborne, L. (2023). Predicting climate change anxiety. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 90, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102087
Items of the Climate Change—Model
This measure consists of 60 items, which are available. The instrument includes the following subscales:
Climate change knowledge
Personal experience of climate change
Generalized anxiety disorder
Climate change risk perception
Global warming worry
Media exposure about climate change information
Climate change anxiety
Supplementary Tables
Table 1
Climate Change Knowledge
| Category | Item | Range |
| Physical knowledge | Burning fossil fuels produce CO2.<br>At the same quantity CO2 is more harmful to the climate than methane. | |
| Causes | The global concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased during the past 250 years.<br>Climate change is mainly caused by human activities.<br>The global increase in temperature over the last century was the largest for the past 1000 years.<br>The level of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has occurred before in the past 650,000 years. | Correct (1) <br> Incorrect (0) |
| Consequences | For the next few decades, the majority of climate scientists expect…<br>a warmer climate to increase the melting of polar ice, which will lead to an overall rise of the sea level.<br>the climate to change evenly all over the world.<br>an increase in extreme events, such as droughts, floods and storms.<br>a warmer climate to increase water evaporation, which will lead to an overall decrease of the sea level. | |
| Action-related knowledge | Nuclear power plants emit CO2 during their operation. |
Note: Adapted from (Tobler et al., 2012)
Table 2
Personal Experience with Climate Change Impacts
| Item | Range |
| I have been directly affected by climate change. | Never (1) to Almost always (5) |
| I have known someone who has been directly affected by climate change. | |
| I have noticed a change in a place that is important to me due to climate change. |
Note: From (Clayton & Karaszia, 2020)
Table 3
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
| Item | Range |
| Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems from issues other than climate change? | |
| Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge | Never (1) <br> Nearly every day (4) |
| Not being able to stop or control worrying | |
| Worrying too much about different things | |
| Trouble relaxing | |
| Being so restless that it is hard to sit still | |
| Becoming easily annoyed or irritable | |
| Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen |
Note: from (Spitzer et al., 2006)
Table 4
Climate Change Risk Perception
| Item | Range |
| How concerned are you about climate change? | Not concerned at all (1) to Very concerned (7) |
| In your judgment, how likely are you, sometime during your life, to experience serious threats to your health or overall well-being, as a result of climate change? | Extremely unlikely (1) to Extremely likely (7) |
| In your judgment, how likely do you think it is that climate change will have very harmful, long-term impacts on our society? | |
| How serious of a threat do you think that climate change is to the natural environment? | Not serious at all (1) to Very serious (7) |
| How serious would you rate the current impacts of climate change around the world? | |
| How serious of a threat do you believe that climate change is to you personally? | |
| How serious would you estimate the impacts of climate change where you live? | |
| How often do you worry about the potentially negative consequences of climate change? | Very rarely (1) to Very frequently (7) |
Note: Adopted from (van der Linden, 2015)
Table 5
Climate Change Worry
| Item | Range |
| How often are you worried about the following possible impacts of climate change? | |
| Loss of human and animal life | Never (1) to Almost always (5) |
| Destruction of natural habitats | |
| Negative societal effects and breakdown of civilization | |
| Significant changes to weather and seasons | |
| Negative impacts on myself and my significant others | |
| Changes to oceans and other bodies of water | |
| Irreversibility and uncertainty of timing | |
| Negative impacts on humanity | |
| Negative actions by other people | |
| Consumerism and associated pollution |
Note: Adapted from (Verplanken et al., 2020)
Table 6
Media Exposure About Climate Change Information
On average, how often do you read or hear about climate change from the following sources?
| Sources | Ranges |
| TV or radio news/programs | Never (1) |
| Printed and online newspapers | Less often than once a week (2) |
| Social media platforms | Once a week (3) |
| YouTube | 2 to 3 days per week (4) |
| Books and magazines | 4 to 6 days per week (5) |
| Scientific articles | Once a day (6) |
| Blogs | 2 to 5 times per day (7) |
| Family, friends, and colleagues | 6 to 10 times per day (8) |
| More than 10 times per day (9) |
Table 7
Climate Change Anxiety
| Item | Range |
| How often do the following things happen for you? | |
| Thinking about climate change makes it difficult for me to concentrate. | Never (1) to Almost always (5) |
| Thinking about climate change makes it difficult for me to sleep. | |
| I have nightmares about climate change. | |
| I find myself crying because of climate change. | |
| I think, “Why can’t I handle climate change better?” | |
| I go away by myself and think about why I feel this way about climate change. | |
| I write down my thoughts about climate change and analyze them. | |
| I think, “Why do I react to climate change this way?” | |
| My concerns about climate change make it hard for me to have fun with my family or friends. | |
| I have problems balancing my concerns about sustainability with the needs of my family. | |
| My concerns about climate change interfere with my ability to get work done. | |
| My concerns about climate change undermine my ability to work to my potential. | |
| My friends say I think about climate change too much. |
Note: Adopted from (Clayton & Karaszia, 2020)
Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Climate Change–Model Inventory. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/climate-change-model-inventory/
Mohammed looti. "Climate Change–Model Inventory." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 5 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/climate-change-model-inventory/.
Mohammed looti. "Climate Change–Model Inventory." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/climate-change-model-inventory/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Climate Change–Model Inventory', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/climate-change-model-inventory/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Climate Change–Model Inventory," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Climate Change–Model Inventory. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.