Solastalgia and Adaptation Intentions Among Indigenous Peoples Facing Environmental Changes

Background: As Earth undergoes environmental degradation, research shows that existing social, economic, health, and mental health disparities in Indigenous peoples are further exacerbated and pose a broader threat to these populations (Redvers et al., 2023). Feelings about environmental changes can result in solastalgia – an ecoemotion characterized by a sense of melancholy and experiential distress when such changes impact their home environment (Albrecht, 2020). This study focuses on the emotional and mental distress of Indigenous Peoples resulting from the changing climate and other repeated or chronic environmental changes.

Methods: This cross-sectional community-engaged survey was conducted in 2019 in a tribal community in the Southern United States. All participants (n=61) were citizens of the tribal nation over 18 years, living in the service area. The study was co-developed and approved by the Tribal government and by the lead author’s university institutional review board.

Five measures from the Environmental Distress Survey were used, including: Solastalgia, Physical Health Impacts, and Felt Impact of Environmental Changes, Prior Adaptation Action, and Planned Adaptation Actions (Higginbotham et al., 2006; Wahid et al., 2025). Demographic variables included gender, age, relationship status, education, and income.

All data were analyzed using SPSS 29.0. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses explored the relationship between sociodemographic factors and perceived environmental change impacts (solastalgia, physical, and felt impact). Multiple linear regression analyses assessed if solastalgia and perceived environmental change predicted openness to future adaptation engagement, controlling for education, income, and gender.

Results: Female participants reported higher levels of solastalgia than male participants F(1, 58) = 4.31, p < .05, and greater physical health impacts than males F(1, 58) = 6.22, p < .05. Participants with less than a high school education reported significantly greater felt impact than those with more education, F(1, 58) = 5.09, p < .05. The regression model was statistically significant, F(5, 54) = 6.75, p < .001, and explained approximately 38% of the variance in future adaptation engagement (R² = .384, Adjusted R² = .327). Solastalgia was a significant predictor of future adaptation intentions, β = .572, t = 4.06, p < .001.

Discussion: Education level was inversely and significantly related to perceptions of community environmental change, with lower levels of education associated with greater perceptions of the change's impact. Therefore, individuals who are more likely to engage in land-based activities are particularly susceptible to environmental changes. Results also show that solastalgia was a significant predictor of future adaptation intentions, indicating that those who feel greater environmental distress are more likely to take action to reduce the impact of a changing environment.

Conclusion: Social research must continue exploring the emotional, cognitive, and mental implications of ecological degradation. It is important to note that the latent construct “solastalgia” is now among many terms seeking to define these phenomena, such as eco-anxiety. We encourage research into a more nuanced view of this and other terms for defining and addressing anxiety, grief, depression, and shock for ecological.