Responding to the impacts of the climate crisis on children and youth
Open accessAbstract
Abstract Climate change poses an urgent threat to future generations. Children are more susceptible to its effects than adults, with immediate and lifelong impacts on their physical and mental health. In addition to having direct experiences of climate impacts, children and youth respond psychologically in troubling ways to their awareness of the climate crisis. Children’s and youth’s needs for support vary across contexts. Climate impacts are generally greater in the developing world (despite the fact that people there are less responsible for causing the crisis), where capacity to prepare for and adapt to the effects is weaker. Hence, we need urgent action on both mitigating climate change and adapting to its impacts. In doing this work, we must acknowledge and build the agency and engagement of children and youth, which also builds resiliency and hope. Although many programs are encouraging, they fail to reach all children in need and are limited in terms of evaluation. Experts in child development can help fill these gaps. In the developed world, few studies address how to support young people in face of their feelings regarding climate change. Listening and providing opportunities for active engagement are among the ways adults can help young people cope, and build a sense of efficacy and a capacity to tackle the crisis and adapt to climate impacts. The upsurge in school strikes for climate action demonstrates young people’s deep concerns about their future and their determination to prevent a climate catastrophe. The climate change crisis raises questions about how professionals committed to the well-being of the next generation should respond—business as usual is no longer an option, and many valuable ways exist to help ensure that children can thrive on a livable planet.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Children facing a future severely damaged by climate change will need support.
“Children facing a future severely damaged by climate change will need support. 24”
From Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey (2021) · cites this paper as [24]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The weirdest people in the world?
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x0999152x · Cited by 12,641 · see citing works
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change
Change, I. P. O. C. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107415416 · Cited by 4,731 · see citing works
WEIRD languages have misled us, too
Majid, A., & Levinson, S. C. (2010) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x1000018x · Cited by 4,169 · see citing works
Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene
Steffen, W., Rockström, J., Richardson, K., Lenton, T. M., Folke, C., Liverman, D., Summerhayes, C. P., Barnosky, A. D., Cornell, S. E., Crucifix, M., et al. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1810141115 · Cited by 3,139 · see citing works
Managing the health effects of climate change
Costello, A., Abbas, M., Allen, A., Ball, S., Bell, S., Bellamy, R., Friel, S., Groce, N., Johnson, A., Kett, M., et al. (2009) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(09)60935-1 · Cited by 3,102 · see citing works
Watts, N., Amann, M., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Belesova, K., Bouley, T., Boykoff, M., Byass, P., Cai, W., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Chambers, J., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32464-9 · Cited by 1,236 · see citing works
Positive Youth Development A View of the Issues
Lerner, R. M., Almerigi, J. B., Theokas, C., & Lerner, J. V. (2005) · The Journal of Early Adolescence · doi:10.1177/0272431604273211 · Cited by 907 · see citing works
The Convention on the Rights of the Child
MacPherson, S. (1989) · Social Policy and Administration · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9515.1989.tb00500.x · Cited by 798 · see citing works
The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment
Crimmins, A., Balbus, J., Gamble, J. L., Beard, C. B., Bell, J. E., Dodgen, D., Eisen, R. J., Fann, N., Hawkins, M. D., Herring, S. C., et al. (2016) · doi:10.7930/j0r49nqx · Cited by 726 · see citing works
Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance
ecoAmerica (2017) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e503122017-001 · Cited by 621 · see citing works
Global climate change and children's health: threats and strategies for prevention
Sheffield, P. E., & Landrigan, P. J. (2011) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1002233 · Cited by 502 · see citing works
Ojala, M. (2015) · The Journal of Environmental Education · doi:10.1080/00958964.2015.1021662 · Cited by 438 · see citing works
Resilience in Development: Progress and Transformation
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2016) · Developmental Psychopathology · doi:10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy406 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
How do children cope with global climate change? Coping strategies, engagement, and well-being
Ojala, M. (2012) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.02.004 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
The psychological effects of climate change on children
Burke, S. E. L., Sanson, A. V., & Van Hoorn, J. (2018) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-018-0896-9 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Self-citationToussaint, L., Shields, G. S., Dorn, G., & Slavich, G. M. (2016) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105314544132 · Cited by 253 · see citing works
U.S. Global Change Research Program
Philander, S. G. (2008) · Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change · doi:10.4135/9781412963893.n685 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
The impact of climate change on youth depression and mental health
Majeed, H., & Lee, J. C. (2017) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(17)30045-1 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Moving Mental Health into the Disaster-Preparedness Spotlight
Yun, K., Lurie, N., & Hyde, P. S. (2010) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmp1008304 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Extreme weather-driven disasters and children's health
Garcia, D. M., & Sheehan, M. C. (2016) · International Journal of Health Services · doi:10.1177/0020731415625254 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Climate Change, Conflict, and Children
Akresh, R. (2016) · The Future of Children · doi:10.1353/foc.2016.0003 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Positive development in emerging adulthood
Hawkins, M. T., Letcher, P., Sanson, A. V., Smart, D., & Toumbourou, J. W. (2008) · Australian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00049530802001346 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Self-citationClimate Change: Implications for Parents and Parenting
Sanson, A. V., Burke, S. E. L., & Hoorn, J. L. V. (2018) · Parenting · doi:10.1080/15295192.2018.1465307 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Self-citationClimate change, children's rights, and the pursuit of intergenerational climate justice.
Gibbons, E. D. (2014) · PubMed · Cited by 71 · see citing works
The Environmental Commons in Urban Communities: The Potential of Place-Based Education
Flanagan, C. A., Gallay, E. E., Pykett, A. A., & Smallwood, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00226 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Effects of Displacement in Children Exposed to Disasters
Pfefferbaum, B. J., Jacobs, A. K., Horn, R. L. V., & Houston, J. B. (2016) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-016-0714-1 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The Challenges of Climate Change: Children on the front linePreprint
Faustini, P. (2014) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Young People and Climate Change: The Role of Developmental Science
Sanson, A. V., Wachs, T. D., Koller, S. H., & Salmela‐Aro, K. (2018) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96592-5_6 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationWeather gone wild: climate change-fuelled extreme weather in 2018
Steffen, W., Dean, A. C. R., & Rice, M. (2019) · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Positive Youth Development in Diverse and Global Contexts
Astroth, K. A. (2017) · Journal of Youth Development · doi:10.5195/jyd.2017.527 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Hawken, P. (2017). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever pro- posed to reverse global warming. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
- devpsy406 · DOI · Paper page
- McMichael, A. J., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Kovats, S., Edwards, S., Wilkinson, P., Wilson, T., . . . Andronova, N. (2004). Global cli- mate change. In M. Ezzati, A. Lopez, A. Rodgers, & C. Murray (Eds.), Comparative quantification of health risks: Global and regio- nal burden of disease due to selected major risk factors (pp. 1543- 1649). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
- Sanson, A. V., & Burke, S. E. L. (2019). Climate change and children: An issue of intergenerational justice. In N. Balvin & D. Christie (Eds.), Children and peace: From research to action (pp. 343-362). New York, NY: Springer Peace Psychology Book Series.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00278-3 · Cited by 2,324 · see citing works
“24 The psychological stress of climate change is also grounded in relational factors; studies among children have shown that they often experience an additional layer of confusion, betrayal, and abandonment because of adult inaction towards climate change.”
Anxiety, worry, and grief in a time of environmental and climate crisis: a narrative review
Ojala, M., Cunsolo, A., Ogunbode, C. A., & Middleton, J. (2021) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-022716 · Cited by 670 · see citing works
Lawrance, E. L., Thompson, R., Newberry Le Vay, J., Page, L., & Jennings, N. (2022) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540261.2022.2128725 · Cited by 500 · see citing works
A social–ecological perspective on climate anxiety in children and adolescents
Crandon, T. J., Scott, J. G., Charlson, F. J., & Thomas, H. J. (2022) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-021-01251-y · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Climate anxiety in young people: a call to action
Wu, J., Snell, G., & Samji, H. (2020) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(20)30223-0 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Baker, C., Clayton, S., & Bragg, E. (2021) · Environmental Education Research · doi:10.1080/13504622.2020.1828288 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Martin, G., Reilly, K., Everitt, H., & Gilliland, J. A. (2022) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/camh.12525 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Hope, Coping and Eco-Anxiety: Young People’s Mental Health in a Climate-Impacted Australia
Gunasiri, H., Wang, Y., Watkins, E.-M., Capetola, T., Henderson-Wilson, C., & Patrick, R. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19095528 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
The clinical implications of climate change for mental health
Crandon, T. J., Dey, C., Scott, J. G., Thomas, H. J., Ali, S., & Charlson, F. J. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01477-6 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Godden, N. J., Farrant, B. M., Yallup Farrant, J., Heyink, E., Carot Collins, E., Burgemeister, B., Tabeshfar, M., Barrow, J., West, M., Kieft, J., et al. (2021) · Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health · doi:10.1111/jpc.15649 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Wu, J., Long, D., Hafez, N., Maloney, J., Lim, Y., & Samji, H. (2023) · International Journal of Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/inm.13201 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Vamvalis, M. (2023) · Research in Education · doi:10.1177/00345237231160090 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sanson, A. V., Van Hoorn, J., & Burke, S. E. L.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- University of the Pacific
- Castlemaine
- Corresponding author
- Sanson, Ann V
- ORCID
- Sanson, Ann V
- Venue
- Child Development Perspectives
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2019-11-12
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 201-207
- ISSN
- 1750-8592 (ISSN-L)
- 1750-8606
- OpenAlex
- W2978384672
- Cited by
- 320
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 47.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Development Perspectives (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- climate change, children and young people, climate anxiety, child mental health, climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation, youth agency, resilience, child development, developing countries
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
