Eco-anxiety: An adaptive behavior or a mental disorder? Results of a psychometric study

OBJECTIVE

Eco-anxiety is a complex construct that has been created to grasp the psychological impact of the consequences of global warming. The concept needs a reliably valid questionnaire to better evaluate its impact on the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders. The Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) evaluates two dimensions: 'habitual ecological anxiety' and 'distress related to eco-anxiety'. However, a version in French, one of the world's widely spoken languages, was until now lacking. We aimed to translate and validate the French EAQ-22 and to evaluate the prevalence of the level of the two dimensions of eco-anxiety and the relationship with anxiety and depressive symptoms in a representative adult sample of the French general population.

METHODS

This study was performed under the auspices of the Institut national du sommeil et de la vigilance (INSV). Participants (18-65 years) were recruited by an institute specialized in conducting online surveys of representative population samples (quota sampling). Two native French speakers and two native English speakers performed a forward-backward translation of the questionnaire. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) was administered to assess anxiety (HAD-A) and depressive (HAD-D) symptoms and for external validity. Internal structural validity and external validity were analysed.

RESULTS

Evaluation was performed on 1004 participants: mean age 43.47 years (SD=13.41, range: [19-66]); 54.1% (n=543) women. Using the HAD, 312 (31.1%) patients had current clinically significant anxiety symptoms (HAD-A>10) and 150 (14.9%) had current clinically significant depressive symptoms (HAD-D>10). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.934, indicating very good internal consistency. Correlation between EAQ-22 and HAD scores was low (r[1004]=0.209, P<0.001), 'habitual ecological anxiety' was correlated less with HAD-A and HAD-D than 'distress related to eco-anxiety', indicating good external validity.

CONCLUSION

This study validates the French EAQ-22 and paves the way for using the EAQ-22 as a global tool for assessing eco-anxiety. Further prospective studies are now required to better evaluate the impact of eco-anxiety on the occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorder.

Better characterizing sleep beliefs for personalized sleep health promotion: the French sleep beliefs scale validation study

Background

The Sleep Beliefs Scale (SBS) is a well-known tool to design and monitor personalized sleep health promotion at an individual and population level. The lack of an established French version limits the development of effective interventions targeting these populations. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the French version of the SBS in a representative sample of the general population.

Methods

Quota sampling was used to recruit 1,004 participants (18-65 years, mean age: 43 years, 54% of female) who underwent an online survey to complete the SBS, and to assess sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health. Cronbach's α coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis, item-internal consistency (IIC), and item discriminant validity (IDV) of the SBS were computed to assess internal validity while bivariate associations with sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health were used to assess external convergent and discriminant validity.

Results

The mean score on the SBS was 12.3 ± 4.9. Item 19 ("Quiet & Dark") showed the highest rate of correct answers (n = 801, 79.8%), while item 20 ("Recovering sleep") showed the lowest rate of correct answers (n = 246, 24.5%). Overall, the SBS showed satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.87) and confirmed the three-factor structure proposed by the original study. All items were found consistent (IIC > 0.4) and discriminant (IIC > IDV) except for item 20 ("recovering lost sleep by sleeping for a long time"). Females, older participants, and subjects with short time-in-bed, poor sleep quality, insomnia, and circadian rhythm disorder had higher SBS scores while participants with depressive symptoms had lower SBS scores.

Conclusion

We successfully translated and validated the French version of the SBS in a representative sample, making it a reliable instrument for researchers and clinicians to assess and target sleep beliefs. Correct answers vary from 25 to 80% which underlines the importance of continuing sleep health promotion campaigns by targeting poorly understood behaviors. Our findings also shed light on the fickleness of beliefs that are prone to vary within individuals across time, in step with societal changes. Several associated factors were identified, thus contributing to our understanding of sleep beliefs and offering insights for personalized approaches to enhance sleep health and overall well-being.

Prévalence de la plainte relative aux troubles du sommeil : Suivi de 205 347 sujets de 1988 à 1998

Primary healthcare checkups are regularly performed by French healthcare centers. We report analysis of sleep disorders complaint registered from 1988 to 1998 in Bordeaux-Cauderan and Cenon CPAM welfare centers. The prevalence of sleep disorders is estimated from a total of 205 347 checkups. The population is segmented by age (18-24: 19 332, 25-34:46 694, 35-44:51 072, 45-54:46 886, 55-64:32 658, 65 +:7 705), gender (male: 101 801; female: 103 546) and population category (general: 147 188, underprivileged: 22 785, prioritized: 35 374). Datas shows a relationship between sex and age. Surprisingly we found a relation between Buying Power for Net Wages and Prevalence of Sleep Complaint. There is a significant correlation (R(2)=0,718, p<0,0079). These data are in relationship with M. Ohayon findings relatively to low income and sleep complaint.