The scale of the phenomenon is striking. While clinically significant severe-weather phobia affects an estimated 2 to 3 percent of the population, a rate comparable to panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, previous surveys suggest that between 40 and 76 percent of Americans report experiencing some degree of severe-weather anxiety. The new study confirms that this anxiety is not confined to clinical settings. Participants in the non-clinical Midwestern sample reported an average Storm Fear Questionnaire score of 11.62 and an average Storm-Related Safety Behavior Scale score of 29.25, indicating that even among people never diagnosed with any weather-related condition, measurable storm fear and behavioral responses are common. Notably, 82.5 percent of participants reported having personally experienced a severe weather event, a figure that reflects the tornado-prone geography of the region where the data were collected.

One of the most technically interesting aspects of the research involves the etiological pathways through which weather fears develop. Drawing on the Weather Experience Questionnaire, participants were asked whether they could trace their weather anxiety back to specific influences, including parental modeling, direct observation of others’ fearful reactions, verbal transmission of threat information, and peer influence. Verbal transmission emerged as the most commonly reported source, cited by 65 percent of participants, followed by modeling at 44 percent, peer influence at 35 percent, and parental influence at 29 percent. These findings align with a broader fear-acquisition literature showing that verbal threat information, such as being told that storms are dangerous, is a powerful route through which fears develop, sometimes rivaling direct traumatic experience in its impact.

Statistical analyses confirmed that each of these etiological factors was associated with significantly elevated scores on both the Storm Fear Questionnaire and the Storm-Related Safety Behavior Scale. Participants who identified parental influence as a contributor to their weather anxiety scored an average of 15.16 on the fear measure compared to 10.12 among those who did not, while those citing peer influence scored 15.42 versus 9.27. The pattern held across all four etiological categories, suggesting that social learning routes, rather than only direct traumatic exposure, play a meaningful role in shaping how people respond emotionally and behaviorally to severe weather. This is among the first studies to document these pathways specifically for weather anxiety within a non-clinical sample, extending earlier clinical observations into a more heterogeneous population.

Beyond etiology, the type of weather feared proved to be a critical differentiator. Using multiple linear regression, the researchers found that fear of thunder and fear of tornadoes were the only weather types uniquely associated with both storm anxiety and safety behaviors, whereas fear of lightning, blizzards, floods, hurricanes, and ice storms did not show significant independent associations. The regression models accounted for 33 percent of the variability in storm fear and 23 percent of the variability in safety behaviors, with standardized coefficients indicating that tornado fear was the strongest single predictor. The authors suggest that the unpredictability and startle response associated with thunder may explain its contribution, consistent with research showing that unpredictable loud noises generally produce heightened anxiety. Tornadoes, being relatively common in the sample’s geographic region, may also reflect how local hazard exposure shapes which weather events dominate psychological responses.

The relationship between past experience and current anxiety was equally revealing. Participants who reported having experienced a severe weather event scored significantly higher on the Storm Fear Questionnaire, averaging 12.23 compared to 8.69 among those who had not. Even more pronounced differences emerged among those who could trace their anxiety to a specific incident: they averaged 17.93 on the fear measure and 39.65 on the safety behavior scale, substantially exceeding those who could not trace their anxiety to any particular event. Interestingly, participants who reported having no weather anxiety at all still endorsed some symptoms on both questionnaires, averaging 6.02 on the fear measure and 19.42 on the safety behavior scale. The authors suggest this may reflect that some recommended protective behaviors, such as staying indoors during expected bad weather, are non-pathological in certain contexts, and that frequency and impairment, rather than mere presence of behaviors, may be better indicators of clinical significance.

Co-occurring psychopathology also emerged as a significant correlate. In regression models examining depression, worry, trait anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms, worry and PTSD symptoms were uniquely associated with storm fear, accounting for 15 percent of the variability in Storm Fear Questionnaire scores. For safety behaviors, worry, PTSD symptoms, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms together explained 14 percent of the variability. The positive associations with worry and PTSD symptoms were consistent with expectations, given that anxiety disorders rarely occur in isolation and frequently co-occur with mood and other anxiety conditions. The negative associations observed for depression and trait anxiety were unexpected and potentially counterintuitive, though the authors suggest these may reflect associations with residual variance rather than meaningful protective effects, particularly given that raw correlations between storm anxiety and both trait anxiety and depression were positive.

A descriptive exploration of PTSD symptoms specifically tied to severe weather events revealed particularly elevated scores among the 25 participants who attributed their post-traumatic stress symptoms to weather. These individuals averaged 26.04 on the Storm Fear Questionnaire and 49.92 on the safety behavior scale, compared to 10.53 and 27.69 respectively among those who did not attribute their symptoms to weather. While the imbalance in group sizes precluded inferential testing, the pattern suggests that weather-related trauma may represent a distinct and clinically important subgroup within the broader population of people experiencing severe-weather anxiety. This finding aligns with a substantial literature documenting post-traumatic stress symptoms following natural disasters, though not everyone who develops weather anxiety has been directly exposed to a traumatic weather event.

Gender differences also emerged, with females scoring significantly higher than males on both measures. Women averaged 12.35 on the Storm Fear Questionnaire compared to 9.05 for men, and 31.00 on the safety behavior scale compared to 24.03. These differences are consistent with broader epidemiological patterns showing elevated anxiety rates among females, though the authors caution that interpreting gender effects requires care due to differences in how impairment is established across studies. The sample was predominantly female at 73.6 percent, which the researchers accounted for in their statistical approach by using Welch’s t-tests to handle unequal gender distribution.

The clinical and applied implications of these findings are considerable. The authors suggest that interventions for severe-weather anxiety should be multifaceted, taking into account individuals’ past experiences with severe weather, their awareness of causative factors, and co-occurring psychological conditions. Exposure-based strategies tailored to the specific weather events that elicit fear, with attention to individual differences in vulnerability and comorbidity, could prove more effective than generic approaches. The findings also suggest that public safety campaigns could benefit from integrating psychological preparedness components, promoting coping strategies and awareness of emotional responses to severe weather alongside physical safety measures. As severe weather events become increasingly frequent in a changing climate, understanding the psychological factors that shape how people respond to these threats is critical, and the Storm Fear Questionnaire and Storm-Related Safety Behavior Scale offer clinicians and researchers practical instruments for evaluation and intervention that may outperform simple face-valid questions about weather fear.

Subject of Research: Psychology

Article Title: Etiological and psychopathological correlates of weather-related anxiety and safety behaviors

Article References: Kraft, J. D., Grant, D. M., Deros, D. E., Nagel, K. M., & Hahn, B. J. (2026). Etiological and psychopathological correlates of weather-related anxiety and safety behaviors. Current Psychology, 45(20), Article 1622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-026-10172-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s12144-026-10172-y

Keywords: psychology, anxiety, phobia, PTSD, weather, mental health, Etiological, psychopathological, correlates, weather-related, safety, behaviors