Environmental health literacy and climate change concern among teachers: The mediating role of ecological footprint awareness

In recent years, increasing environmental pollution and the resulting climate change have brought about physical and mental health problems for individuals. To prevent this pollution, largely caused by human activities, and to ensure it doesn't pose a threat to future generations, it is crucial to increase individuals' environmental health literacy and ecological footprint awareness. The aim of this study is to determine the environmental health literacy and climate change anxiety levels of teachers, who will guide future generations, and to identify the mediating role of ecological footprint awareness in this relationship. This study, conducted using quantitative methods and a cross-sectional-relational research design, took place between April 30 and September 17, 2025. The sample consisted of 281 teachers working in primary, secondary, and high schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Elazığ and Erzincan provinces. Data were collected using a 'Demographic Information Form', the 'Environmental Health Literacy Scale', the 'Climate Change Anxiety Scale', and the 'Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale'. The data collected in this study were analyzed using SPSS for Windows 22 software. Descriptive statistics included numerical values, percentages, minimum and maximum values, mean, and standard deviation. The normality of the data distribution was calculated using the "Kurtosis" and "Skewness" coefficients (±2). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Bootstrap techniques were used to analyze the mediating role. According to the results of our study, Environmental Health Literacy does not have a direct significant effect on Climate Change Anxiety, but it does have a significant effect on Ecological Footprint Awareness, and Ecological Footprint Awareness plays a mediating role in the relationship between Environmental Health Literacy and Climate Change Anxiety. This result shows that increasing environmental health literacy levels in individuals can create environmental awareness, and increased awareness can lead to climate change anxiety in teachers.