While the physical effects of climate change and the mental health effects of climate-related disasters have been widely documented, climate change anxiety has been less studied, especially outside of a Western context. Younger generations will be particularly affected by climate change during their lifetimes. Predictors and psychological effects of climate change anxiety have been less studied in younger populations. The LMIC university setting is uniquely positioned to enact social, cultural, and political change regarding environmental issues. Additionally, anxiety and depression are higher among university students, and worrying about climate change may exacerbate existing mental health conditions, especially in regions thought to be highly susceptible to climate change, such as sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, with Cape Town having experienced a severe water shortage, which is projected to recur. Our study assessed the relationship between several psychological, experiential, and behavioral factors and climate change anxiety among university students studying in Western Cape, South Africa (N = 343). Climate change anxiety was assessed using the Climate Change Anxiety Scale (Clayton & Kazsia, 2020). Prevalence of climate change anxiety was higher among students with higher general anxiety, higher depression, higher environmental concern, higher nature-relatedness, higher climate-related information seeking behavior and exposure, more pro-environmental behaviors, more climate impacts experienced, and more visits to green space. Correlations with climate change anxiety were highest with climate-related information seeking behavior. Hierarchal regression indicated that 58.6% of climate change anxiety was accounted for by general anxiety, climate concern, nature relatedness, environmental values, pro-environmental behaviors, and climate related information-seeking behavior. When all factors were considered, climate impacts, information exposure, pro-environmental behavior, visits to green space, and depression were no longer significant predictors. Further research is needed to assess the prevalence and severity of climate change anxiety and predictors among university students in LMIC countries to inform the development of prevention and intervention strategies, institutional policies, and future research programs in university settings. Coping, resilience, and cultural implications should be examined from an environmental justice perspective.

Climate change is a psychologically distressing global crisis necessitating inclusive and effective prevention and mitigation efforts at the governmental level. While research indicates that governance is often ineffective in responding to adverse impacts of climate change, specific knowledge regarding the effects of climate change in regard to governance strategies and women’s participation via leadership is lacking. Vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls and those in geographical areas prone to climate change, are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis and disproportionately represented in leadership positions, especially at the governmental level. We hypothesized that having more women in leadership positions would be positively associated with country-level climate change mitigation efforts. Our research examined the relationship between nine indicators of climate change mitigation (projected greenhouse gas emissions in 2050, CH4*, F gas*, CO2 from land cover; CO2*; greenhouse gas emissions per capita, greenhouse gas intensity trend, N2O*, black carbon*), governance (government regulatory quality, political stability, control of corruption, government effectiveness, and the rule of law) and women’s leadership (the percentage of elected seats held by women in local government bodies, the percentage of seats held by women in the national legislature, and the percentage of ministerial positions held by women) using country-level data. Results indicate that in countries where more women are in positions of power and involved in widespread decision-making, stronger country-level performance is observed in regard to climate change mitigation efforts. Further, results indicate that women’s participation in leadership moderates the relationship between governance and climate change mitigation across countries. Findings suggest that women’s leadership is a valuable component of effective climate change mitigation efforts, and countries would benefit from amplifying the voices, and political prominence, of women in governmental leadership roles.

Psychological comfort is an essential factor in choosing houses with a contemporary healing environment. DKI Jakarta, a province in Indonesia with approximately 8.5 million people is Indonesia's busiest destination both tourism and commerce, with complex environmental and climate change problems. However, having a residence in Jakarta would be advantageous as it allows easy access to various facilities. When choosing a comfortable residence, various factors need to be considered. This study investigates how people in DKI Jakarta to understand which region has an optimal healing environment. This study will conduct spatial analysis using a Bivariate Choropleth Map. In the creation of the Bivariate Choropleth Map, we use three parameters, firstly, socio-economic (population density and nighttime map), environmental health (air pollution map and land surface temperature map), and multi-hazard parameter (flood map and extreme weather). Population density is needed to analyze locations with low population density for greater flexibility in daily activities, parameters like nighttime data are used to analyze the socioeconomic processes occurring in Jakarta, land surface temperature, and air pollution as approaches to analyzing traffic congestion and air quality, and parameters like flood disaster and extreme weather to assess the potential for hydro-meteorological disasters. Spatial analysis will be conducted per district in the DKI Jakarta Province. Based on spatial analysis using Bivariate Choropleth, taking into account socioeconomic, health environment, and multi-hazard parameters, the most ideal location for residential purposes is the Gambir District, Central Jakarta, DKI Jakarta. This means that the Gambir District has favorable socioeconomic conditions, signifying ease of conducting transactions to meet needs. It also has good health and environmental conditions, indicating low levels of air pollution and a moderate climate. Additionally, the favorable multi-hazard condition suggests a low risk of flooding and extreme weather events. Knowing the ideal location for residential development in the Gambir District can be used as a consideration for property development, with careful attention to the environment to ensure that its quality does not deteriorate due to construction. The results of this suitability analysis can also be utilized by individual members of the community to realize their dream of a comfortable life in DKI Jakarta.

In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Métis people are "Indians" under the laws of Canada. This and the R. versus Powley rulings should have clarified the issues surrounding Métis rights, identity, territory, and care. However, rather than provide answers, they raised more questions and challenges. The literature and research on this question, and the general public’s perspective reflect an understanding dominated by the Western Métis peoples’ histories, understanding, and realities. Yet there is a hunger that seeks an understanding of how Eastern Métis are navigating their current realities with regards to their everyday experiences, histories, and identity. It is through the oral storytelling tradition that our present research examines the meaning of identifying as Eastern Métis. In this presentation, we provide a critical examination of the literature and colonial legal legislations that have shaped our understanding of Métis-ness to date and contrast it with the lived experience of those who identify as Eastern Métis. We conclude with a critical examination of the process of being dispossessed of one’s identity versus the power to name and to own a people as a means to shed light on the current debates on the Métis question in Canada.

This article presents a decolonial approach to the representation of normal and pathology in Senegal. After reviewing the literature on psychiatry in Senegal and indigenous psychology in various countries, the author introduces Parallelism, an approach to the world as thought by the Wolofs, Lebous and Séreer of Senegal. She discusses the paradigm differences between time, space, the real and the imaginary, and their impact on the relationship between patient, family and health workers. Through the illustration of a clinical case, the author demonstrates how parallelism makes it possible to observe and develop a caring and culturally relevant therapeutic position.

The global refugee population has doubled since 2016. In the first half of 2023, there were more than 110 million forcibly displaced people, and this trend will likely continue. In addition to the usual challenges of adapting to the host society, refugees also carry the physical and psychological burdens of forced displacement and human rights violations. The Psychological Antecedents of Refugee Integration (PARI) model (Echterhoff et al., 2020) includes two psychological factors as its central theme: perceived forcedness (i.e., the subjective experience of forced displacement) and related perils (i.e., the subjective experience of dangers associated with forced displacement). These factors are theorized to influence the refugees’ integration processes while coping with the demands of the host society. Moreover, post-arrival demands typically faced by refugees include perceived discrimination in various domains such as housing, employment, healthcare, and education. Evidence shows that discrimination negatively affects participation in host societies, reduces migrants’ adoption of the host society’s culture, reduces the likelihood of integration, and generally hinders subjective well-being

Less known is the role of host country’s context for refugee psychological responses to displacement. In this study, we thus compare two refugee groups in two different contexts: refugees in Portugal and Zomi refugees in Malaysia. Portugal is a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention and Protocol and has a comprehensive integration policy, including healthcare access for asylum-seekers and cultural diversity education in schools. Portugal is ranked ‘Top Ten’on the Multicultural Policy Index. In contrast, Malaysia, does not have a national asylum system and are not signatories of the UN Refugee Convention and Protocol. The non-recognition of refugees means they have limited access to housing, employment, education, healthcare, and protection. Treated as “illegal immigrants”, refugees regularly face detention without trial or representation, forced removals, deportation, criminal prosecution, and corporal punishment by the local authorities.

Provided these differences between contexts of reception, we expected that refugee groups in these two countries differ in their perceptions of discrimination, well-being, and their correlates. Indeed, results showed that perceived discrimination and related perils were significantly higher for Zomi refugees in Malaysia, while subjective well-being and perceived forcedness were considerably higher for refugees in Portugal. For both groups, perceived forcedness was negatively related to subjective well-being, but perceived discrimination was not significantly associated with subjective well-being. For refugees in Portugal, perceived discrimination was positively related to perceived forcedness. For Zomi refugees, perceived discrimination was positively associated with related perils. We propose that group differences are a product of the host country’s social and political factors. Limitations, practical implications, and future research avenues are discussed.

References

1. Echterhoff, G., Hellmann, J. H., Back, M. D., Kärtner, J., Morina, N., & Hertel, G. (2020). Psychological Antecedents of Refugee Integration (PARI). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(4), 856–879. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619898838