The Impact of an Art and Philosophy-based Intervention on Children's Eco-anxiety

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Eco-anxiety; Psychological Distress; Tolerance to Distress; Hope; Mental Health

• Registration Number: NCT06937021
• Lead Sponsor: Bishop's University

Brief Summary

Objective: To examine the impact of climate change on children's mental health by comparing the effectiveness of an arts only intervention (ABI) and an arts and philosophy-based intervention (APBI) on children's eco-anxiety, tolerance to distress and hope for the future in school settings. The investigators hypothesized that the children assigned to the combined arts and philosophy intervention would show reductions in self-reported eco-anxiety, as well as increases in tolerance to distress and hope for the future in the context of climate change, when compared to children assigned to the arts-only intervention.

Setting: This study is conducted in public primary schools from England. Participants: Participants are students in grades 3 to 6. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome is self-reported eco-anxiety scores. Secondary outcomes are self-reported tolerance to distress, hope for the future and mental health (depression and anxiety symptoms).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-02-03
• Status Verified: 2025-04
• Study First Submitted: 2025-04-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-04-17
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-17
• Study First Posted: 2025-04-20
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-20
• Primary Completion: 2026-06
• Study Completion: 2026-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1000

Inclusion Criteria

• being an elementary school student

Exclusion Criteria

• not being an elementary school student

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Eco-anxiety	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks	Self-reported child eco-anxiety; Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 33 Higher scores mean worse outcomes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Tolerance to distress	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks	Self-reported child tolerance to distress; Distress Intolerance Index for Youth Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 36 Higher scores mean worse outcomes
Hope	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks	Self-reported child hope; 1 item house scale: Thinking about climate change, how hopeful would you say you are that things will get better in the future? Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 4 Higher score means a better outcome
Mental health	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks	Self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms; Selected items from the anxiety and depression subscales of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-III Minimum score: 0; Maximum score anxiety: 9 Maximum score depression: 15 Higher scores mean a worse outcome

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Reach2 Academy, NorthStar Academy; 🇬🇧 Henhurst Ridge, Burton-on-Trent, United Kingdom