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Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Children and Youth Report 2023

Join us for the launch webinar. Building on the success of Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, and Responses, ecoAmerica collaborated with the American Psychological Association to bring forth the next edition, Mental Health and our Changing Climate: Children and Youth Report to be published October 11, 2023.

Join Us for the Launch Webinar

The Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Children and Youth report chronicles the effects of climate change on children’s mental health, the structural inequities that lead to some populations bearing greater impacts, and solutions to support the mental health of children and youth on the individual and community level. Watch the launch webinar to hear the major findings of this report from the authors and to preview the action steps for medical professionals, community and elected leaders, children and youth advocates, teachers, environmentalists, philanthropists, and the public.

Children and Youth Report Publishes October 2023 — Join Us for the Launch Webinar

ecoAmerica and the American Psychological Association published Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, and Responses. With over 200 citations, this 2021 breakthrough third edition report chronicles the multiple effects of climate change on mental health, the structural inequities that lead to some populations bearing greater impacts, how people think about and respond to climate change, and solutions to support mental health on the individual and community level. The report provides psychologists, health professionals, environmentalists, policymakers, and the interested public with the latest peer-reviewed information and guidance to stay current and take effective action.

The research indicates that children and youth are uniquely vulnerable groups in the face of climate change. Impacts range from direct trauma from severe weather events to anxiety about longer-term changes. Children’s mental health may not just be affected by their own experiences of stressors but also by their vicarious experiences of the mental health of their caregivers (Simpson et al., 2011). And, as a result of several years of the COVID-19 pandemic, children and youth are made increasingly vulnerable, experiencing compounded impacts on their mental health.

The pandemic did, however, provide important lessons for moving forward. Studying the cross-over with climate change — and specifically how it relates to children — offers a wealth of opportunities to protect the mental health of children and youth.

Additional Mental Health and Climate Resources