Exploring the Role of Agency and Community Support in Climate Resilience Among Filipino Youth

This study examines how individual agency and community support help Filipino youth in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, develop psychological resilience and adapt to climate change. Beyond the physical environment, climate change has an impact on mental health, leading to issues like eco-anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. The study explores how individual and group empowerment can work as protective factors, drawing on theories of social cognition, self-determination, and terror management. This is a quantitative study of 386 people between the ages of 18 and 30. It was shown that individual agency and community support were significantly and positively correlated (ρ = .305, p < .001). This suggests that empowerment and social connectedness boost resistance to climate-related stress, as a stronger sense of individual agency is associated with higher perceived community support. The study concludes that both community-level and individual-level interventions are necessary for successful climate adaptation. It suggests boosting mental health and advocacy efforts, expanding access to environmental knowledge, and fortifying neighborhood support systems. The necessity of incorporating social empowerment and psychological well-being into climate resilience planning is underscored by these findings.