From Climate Anxiety to Climate Resilience: A Path Forward for Children and Youth

As climate change impacts accelerate, so do their effects on the well-being of our communities, especially children and youth. According to ecoAmerica’s latest poll, 72% of Americans recognize that young people and future generations experience disproportionate harms from climate change. These impacts are not only physical or environmental — they’re emotional and psychological, too.

This May, for Mental Health Awareness Month, ecoAmerica is proud to feature its new guides for parents and caregivers, educators, and health professionals to care for the mental health of our nation’s children and youth. These practical resources offer peer-reviewed tools and recommendations for these trusted adults to help children and youth manage the emotional and psychological impacts of climate change and build lasting resilience.

Resilience isn’t about shielding young people and future generations from hardship — it’s about providing them with strength and age-appropriate coping skills to face challenges, deal with change, and move forward with confidence. The guides build on our Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Children and Youth Report, developed in partnership with the American Psychological Association in 2023. Each guide is made for adults whom children and youth trust — those who work closely with them and are best positioned to support them. Find more below:

• A Guide for Parents and Caregivers – Equips parents and caregivers with practical recommendations to support children’s mental health amid climate change, from using hopeful, solution-focused language to building emotional coping skills and involving children in helpful climate actions like recycling and advocacy.
  
• A Guide for Educators – Gives educators school-appropriate guidance to deepen knowledge and practice hands-on engagement in solutions, including creating green, calming spaces,  building supportive classrooms, and teaching climate science with a focus on hope and action.
  
• A Guide for Health Professionals – Equips health professionals to spot early signs of climate-related stress in children and provide the right level of support, from simple reassurance to trauma-informed care, helping children and youth navigate the climate future with confidence.

The mental health impacts of climate change on children and youth present in a number of ways. Experiencing events like wildfires and hurricanes firsthand can be traumatic, leading to long-term psychological distress, sleep issues, academic setbacks, and disrupted family dynamics. Ongoing climate issues, such as rising temperatures and air pollution, also negatively impact learning and brain development. Children and youth who face challenges or lack strong support systems may feel climate change impacts more deeply, as it does not affect every community equally.

Recognizing that young people are affected by climate change is the first step — and these impacts cannot be fixed by avoiding the topic. Rather, taking action and having open conversations about climate change, as outlined in the guides above, are key pieces of the solution. While impacts may vary by developmental stage, the adults in children’s lives all share the responsibility to support their well-being.

The good news is that there is peer-reviewed guidance available. With these guides, adults can foster emotional well-being and strengthen children’s mental health. Together, we can support children and youth navigate the future with confidence and resilience — this month and every month.

ecoAmerica is a nonprofit organization that moves society toward climate solutions by engaging and supporting trusted national institutions to inspire and empower their millions of members in local communities across America to visibly act and advocate for ambitious, just, climate mitigation, resilience, and restoration.