Impactos da mudança climática em uma população ribeirinha do Amazonas

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, climate change stands as the greatest challenge of the 21st century, leading to severe and multidimensional impacts on social, economic, security, and public health aspects. The evidence for this global phenomenon is unequivocal and manifests through rising global average temperatures, sea-level rise, drastic changes in biodiversity, and the intensification of extreme weather events, such as severe droughts and floods. In the field of mental health, literature documents severe consequences, including elevated rates of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, and depression. A recent concept that conceptualizes the experience of mental and emotional distress resulting from these transformations is Solastalgia, defined as the suffering caused by the degradation of an environment to which an individual possesses an affective bond and a sense of belonging. This observational, cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study aimed to measure the impacts of climate change in a riverside population in Manaus through this construct. To enable investigation in the local context, a cross-cultural adaptation of the Scale of Solastalgia (SOS) was performed. The final sample consisted of 210 participants residing in Vila do Puraquequara and adjacent communities, a group whose livelihoods are intrinsically linked to Amazonian hydrological cycles. The adaptation procedures allowed for the establishment of robust evidence of validity based on content, with total Content Validity Coefficients (CVC) of 0.87 for clarity, 0.98 for pertinence, and 0.97 for theoretical relevance. Dimensionality analysis via Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated that a reduced version of 8 items, preserving the original two-dimensional structure – composed of the factors Solace (comfort of home) and Algia (pain of degradation) – presented superior fit indicators compared to alternative models (CFI = 0.993; TLI = 0.989; SRMR = 0.055). The subscales demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with alpha values between 0.66 and 0.86 and omega values between 0.75 and 0.86. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that higher Solastalgia scores are associated with a greater belief in climate change (r = 0.35 for Solace and r = 0.44 for Algia) and greater support for climate policies (r = 0.23 for Solace). Conversely, correlations with indicators of Common Mental Disorders (tracked by the SRQ-20) were weak, and no significant correlation with life satisfaction was identified. Additionally, the Mann Whitney test did not indicate a statistically significant difference in Solastalgia levels between genders (p = 0.996), suggesting that environmental suffering affects the community collectively. The results indicate that the Brazilian version of the SOS is a valid and reliable tool, essential for supporting public policies aimed at the well-being of vulnerable populations in the Global South.