Nationwide survey led by Athabasca University researchers finds 37% of Canadian youth felt climate change has impacted their mental health
More than a third of Canadian teens say climate change is impacting their mental health, according to a national study led by Athabasca University researchers.
A survey of 800 Canadian youth aged 13 to 18 found that 37% reported climate change was impacting their mental health. Teens indicated climate change has led to feelings of anxiety, stress, and worry, and fuels concerns and uncertainty for the future.
“We’re seeing a lot of increased attention around how young people are feeling around climate change. A lot of that is around their mental health and terms like climate anxiety, or eco anxiety,” explained study co-author Dr. Gina Martin, an associate professor in AU’s Faculty of Health Disciplines.
Climate anxiety, fear, and uncertainty about the future
The study, led by AU postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ishwar Tiwari, used a polling firm to engage youth from coast to coast to coast to ask whether climate change affects their mental health. Participants who responded "yes" were then asked a follow-up question to describe how they perceived climate change impacting their mental health.
Researchers were able to identify four main themes, including how climate change affects participants emotionally and psychologically with responses related to anxiety, stress, worry, depression, sadness, and fear. Other themes focused on teens’ concerns for their own futures; worries for the future of the environment, humanity, and wildlife; and also, how climate change affects their ability to engage in aspects of their normal lives.
Concerns about their own future included feelings of hopelessness, worries about the potential loss of homes and livelihoods due to climate change and extreme weather events. Some even reported concerns about becoming a parent and raising children in a world that “will keep getting worse for them,” as one youth wrote.
For some youth, climate change is already having an impact on their ability to function with reports of difficulties sleeping at night and issues related to breathing, headaches, and weakness experienced during wildfire season when air quality is poor due to smoke.
The research team did not ask youth specifically about their physical health, but teens reported those impacts on their own, Martin said.
“That shows us that they're making that connection themselves about the fact that their physical health is being impacted and that is connected to their mental well-being.”
Engaging youth from coast to coast to coast
The research team felt it was important for the study to engage teens directly to understand their perspectives. The study included youth from rural, remote, and urban communities to reflect a diversity of experiences and views across Canada. It was also important to include younger teens in the sample as most research on this topic often focuses on youth between the ages of 16 and 25.
“People are going to have different direct experiences depending on where they live, but also the way that they are perceiving things and their daily lives are going to be impacted by whether they're in an urban or rural community, whether they’re younger or older,” Martin explained.
The study results give researchers, policymakers, educators, and health professionals important data to develop tools and supports to help youth understand and navigate their feelings and develop a sense of resilience, she added.
“We want to make sure we're protecting young people’s mental health in the context of a changing climate, so that we’re able to say, ‘OK, these things are happening, but there are mitigation strategies that are being put in place to protect mental health.’”
The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, SickKids, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The study published in September in PLOS Mental Health.