Climate Information, Disaster Experience, and Eco-Anxiety in Uganda: The mediating role of perceived Government response

Abstract

This study investigated the interactions between climate-change information, personal experience of climate disaster, perceived government response and eco-anxiety in the people living in climate-disaster-affected regions (CDAAs) in Uganda. Data were collected with the help of multistage random sampling of 459 participants belonging to highly vulnerable districts with the help of the correlational design and path analysis. This study adopted four validated scales (whereby the Cronbach alpha of every scale exceeded 0.7); exposure to climate-change information, experience disaster, perceived government response, and eco-anxiety.Findings showed that the proposed model offered great fit (CFI = .965, TLI = .952, RMSEA =.058, SRMR =.042). Information exposure (β = .394, p =.002) as well as personal experience (β =.236, p =.047) had significant direct influences on eco-anxiety. The role of perceived government response (β =.262, p =.021) also played a positive but less significant role in causing the relationship between information exposure and eco-anxiety ((indirect) β =.096, p =.001). The combination of the predictors accounted 58.8 percent of the variance in eco-anxiety and 38.5 percent in perceived government response. These results point to the fact that the triadic influences of informational, experiential, and institutional factors determine eco-anxiety in Uganda. High levels of exposure to crisis-focused climate data and frequent exposure to disasters increase distress, and low trust in the effectiveness of governmental intervention increases the levels of psychological vulnerability. The study highlights the importance of a balanced approach in the environmental communication, credible governance and conceptual psychosocial support in climate-adaptation initiatives in Africa.