EAQ-22 shows reliable measurement of eco-anxiety in Spanish young adults

The Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) showed generally acceptable fit and high internal consistency when adapted for Spanish young adults in an online psychometric study, according to the study abstract. Researchers evaluated the questionnaire among 292 university students aged 18 to 25. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original two-factor structure: habitual ecological worry and the perceived negative consequences of eco-anxiety.

For the measurement model, the researchers used confirmatory factor analysis with the weighted least squares mean and variance adjusted estimator. They assessed internal consistency with ordinal alpha and McDonald’s omega, examined measurement invariance across gender, and evaluated convergent validity by examining associations among eco-anxiety, concern about climate change and pro-environmental behaviour. The abstract reports that the two subscales had excellent internal consistency: ordinal alpha values were 0.939 for habitual ecological worry and 0.938 for negative consequences, while McDonald’s omega values were 0.940 and 0.938, respectively.

The same two-factor configuration was identified for participants across gender, but the findings were not uniform. The configural model had suboptimal fit, and metric invariance was not supported. The study abstract also reports a strong association between eco-anxiety and climate change concern and a moderate association with pro-environmental behaviour. These are observed associations rather than evidence that eco-anxiety causes concern or environmental behaviour. Overall, the abstract concludes that the Spanish EAQ-22 has satisfactory psychometric properties for assessing eco-anxiety among Spanish young adults, while identifying limitations in some aspects of the model fit and gender measurement invariance.

The available report is based on an abstract of an online survey rather than a full account of the study, so the scope of the questionnaire’s performance beyond this sample cannot be established from the supplied evidence. The participants were 18- to 25-year-old university students, and the reported results should not be generalized automatically to adolescents, older adults or people outside Spanish university settings. The abstract does not provide details about recruitment, response rates, missing data, non-response analyses or the model-fit statistics behind the stated fit judgments. It also does not establish that the instrument can measure changes over time or that scores are comparable across additional demographic groups. The evidence therefore supports the reliability and two-factor structure reported for this sample, with the unsuccessful metric-invariance test constituting an important qualification.

Subject of Research: Psychometric validation of the Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire among Spanish university students aged 18 to 25

Article Title: Validation of the Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) in Spanish young people: assessing the psychological impact of the ecological crisis

Article References: Sala, R., Germán, S., López-Asensio, S., & Navarro, J.-B. (2026). Validation of the Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) in Spanish young people: assessing the psychological impact of the ecological crisis. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29761-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-29761-4

Keywords: EAQ-22, eco-anxiety, psychometric validation, Spanish youth, university students, climate change concern, pro-environmental behaviour, factor analysis, measurement invariance, Validation, Questionnaire, Spanish