A Psychometric Evaluation of the Climate Change Anxiety Scale

Clayton and Karazsia (2020) developed the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS) to measure anxiety associated with perceptions of climate change. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the CCAS with a conceptual replication of Clayton and Karazsia’s study 2. This study had preregistered inferential criteria and used a sample of 401 Australian and New Zealand residents. The results showed some support for the construct validity of the scale, with weak-moderate positive correlations between CCAS scores and ecocentrism (r = .14) generalised anxiety (r = .37), non-specific distress (r = .36) and concern about climate change (r = .36), and a weak negative correlation with climate change denial (r = -.13). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the two-factor model specified by Clayton and Karazsia had reasonable global fit, but neither a one- nor two- factor model met the preregistered criteria for a good fit. Reliability estimates indicated that the CCAS had good to excellent internal consistency (α = .90; ωt = .91) and good test-retest reliability (r = .87). Suggestions for improvement are provided.