Review highlights the importance of prioritizing youth mental health as a core objective of climate resilience and justiceThis narrative review is based on the understanding that “climate change is an escalating global crisis with wide-ranging consequences—not only for ecosystems and physical health, but also for the mental and emotional well-being of children and adolescents.” The effects of climate change are particularly detrimental among marginalized groups, such as low- and middle-income countries, Indigenous communities, and regions facing poverty or conflict. Although children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to climate-related mental health risks, this area of concern remains underexamined, and climate response strategies largely fail to address youth mental health. “This review addresses that gap by integrating developmental, structural, and existential perspectives to examine pathways of harm and resilience and reframe youth mental health as a core concern of climate justice.”
An academic meta-search platform was used to survey the existing literature for peer-reviewed studies focused on the psychological, developmental, emotional, or sociocultural experiences of children and adolescents in relation to climate change. Both empirical and conceptual studies were eligible for inclusion in the review. Only studies published in English were considered. The search identified 46 studies, which were included in the review. The quality of the studies was informally assessed to ensure methodological rigor. The studies’ findings were analyzed using three theoretical frameworks to identify “shared patterns, conceptual linkages, and points of divergence across studies.” The frameworks included eco-social theory (health outcomes arise from the interaction between ecological conditions, social structures, and biological processes), developmental psychopathology (a complementary lens, emphasizing how experiences of stress and trauma affect children and adolescents differently depending on their developmental stage, neurobiological vulnerability, and quality of their relationships), and existential ecological perspectives (which suggests that human well-being is interconnected with and dependent off the health of the natural world). The frameworks served as “critical lenses” to examine how children and adolescents “are uniquely positioned within the climate crisis and how their mental health is shaped by it.” Based on the frameworks, the review positions climate change as a structural determinant of health that “amplifies existing inequities,” which may “affect children and adolescents differently depending on their stage of development, neurobiological sensitivity, and relational environment.”
Findings suggest that climate change impacts the mental health of children and adolescents through three overlapping pathways: (1) direct exposure to climate-related disasters, (2) indirect disruption of social and environmental systems, and (3) existential ecological distress rooted in climate awareness. Children who are directly impacted by extreme climate-related events experience negative psychological effects, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and grief. Socioeconomically disadvantaged youth experience these impacts most strongly, highlighting how social factors can intensify the mental health consequences of climate change. Child and adolescent mental health can suffer from the indirect effects of climate change, such as insecurity around food and water, unstable economic and social conditions, disrupted education, and especially displacement. Additionally, an awareness of the climate crisis can pose mental health risks for youth even when they are not directly or indirectly impacted. Mental health concerns include eco-anxiety (persistent worry about the effects of climate change), climate grief (mourning for ecological loss), and solastalgia (distress caused by environmental change). For instance, recent research found that climate-related distress is linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression, and diminished health-related quality of life among youth. Evidence also indicates that climate-related worry heightens in adolescence, especially among girls and those from lower-income families.
Findings of the review highlight that although low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) face the greatest climate impacts, youth in these regions are “the least studied and least supported.” Mental health impacts to these youth, such as anxiety, emotional symptoms, and conduct problems, are often compounded by displacement, disruptions to schooling, and economic stress. However, mental health services are often lacking, and youth in these contexts are underrepresented in the current literature. Low-income individuals, Indigenous youth, and young people with disabilities or chronic health issues are especially at risk for adverse climate-related mental health effects. The review also discusses how youth might build psychological resilience to climate change through supportive relationships with caregivers, social connections, cultural identity, climate education or action, and contact with nature.
The review highlights the importance of prioritizing youth mental health as a core objective in advancing climate resilience and justice. “While all children and adolescents are susceptible to the psychological effects of climate change, certain groups are far more likely to bear its burden due to structural inequities, geographic location, developmental stage, and systemic exclusion.” The development of mental health responses to the climate crisis should be based on an understanding of these vulnerabilities. The author calls for interdisciplinary public health strategies that link environmental health, education, social services, and mental care, and which are “preventative, participatory, and rooted in justice.” Future research should prioritize community-oriented and culturally informed studies that emphasize the perspectives of climate-vulnerable populations and youth from the Global South. Research to evaluate interventions that address mental health concerns related to climate change should focus on participatory action research and youth-led or co-design processes.
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