The Brief Solastalgia Scale: A Psychometric Evaluation and Revision

Summary

This study evaluated and revised the nine-item Solastalgia subscale of the Environmental Distress Scale, a measure of the distress people feel when witnessing degradation and loss to their home environment. Drawing on three large, independent Australian adult samples (total N = 4,229) surveyed soon after the 2019/20 bushfires, the authors assessed the scale's structure using factor analysis and item response theory. Factor analyses confirmed the scale's unidimensionality, while item response theory highlighted several poorly performing and content-redundant items. The authors developed a five-item Brief Solastalgia Scale that showed excellent model fit and internal consistency in both the initial and cross-validation samples. The revised scale offers an efficient tool for measuring solastalgia in environmental and mental health research.