Mental health and subjective environmental awareness: Individual behavioral, spillover, and intergenerational effects

Amidst escalating environmental challenges, the linkage between mental health and ecological behaviors has become a critical area of research. This study delves into how mental well-being influences an individual’s subjective environmental awareness, employing data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) survey. The empirical evidence presented herein reveals that enhancements in individual mental health positively impact subjective environmental awareness. Furthermore, increasing education and household income establishes the mediating effect between mental health and subjective environmental awareness. The analysis also identifies variations in these effects based on different ages and household registration types. Additionally, the findings indicate that the beneficial impact of improved mental health on subjective environmental awareness extends through spillover and intergenerational effects. These results contribute to the ongoing discourse on sustainable behavior and highlight the potential role of psychological well-being in fostering environmental sustainability. • Mental health improvements boost subjective environmental awareness. • Education and income mediate mental health's impact on environmental awareness. • Effects vary by age and household registration types. • Mental health's influence extends through spillover and intergenerational effects.