IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcli/v12y2022i2d10.1038_s41558-021-01251-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A social–ecological perspective on climate anxiety in children and adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Tara J. Crandon

    (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
    The University of Queensland)

  • James G. Scott

    (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
    Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research
    Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital)

  • Fiona J. Charlson

    (The University of Queensland
    Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research)

  • Hannah J. Thomas

    (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
    The University of Queensland
    Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research)

Abstract

Experiences of ‘climate anxiety’ are considered an adaptive response to a real threat, as well as a potential cause of impairment. To date, little attention has been paid to how children and adolescents may be uniquely predisposed to climate anxiety, despite being an age cohort particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This Review uses a social–ecological framework to identify the influences on climate anxiety for young people. We explore the directionality and interplay between individual factors, the physical environment and the influence of micro- (family, peers), meso- (school, community), exo- (government, media) and macro- (culture) systems on children’s and adolescents’ experience of climate anxiety. The Review highlights future research considerations and key issues relevant to professionals working with youth.

Suggested Citation

  • Tara J. Crandon & James G. Scott & Fiona J. Charlson & Hannah J. Thomas, 2022. "A social–ecological perspective on climate anxiety in children and adolescents," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(2), pages 123-131, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:12:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1038_s41558-021-01251-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01251-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01251-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41558-021-01251-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Susan D. Clayton & Panu Pihkala & Britt Wray & Elizabeth Marks, 2023. "Psychological and Emotional Responses to Climate Change among Young People Worldwide: Differences Associated with Gender, Age, and Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Katharina Voltmer & Maria von Salisch, 2023. "Promoting Subjective Well-Being and a Sustainable Lifestyle in Children and Youth by Strengthening Their Personal Psychological Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Hannes Zacher & Cort W. Rudolph, 2023. "Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Daniela Acquadro Maran & Matti Ullah Butt & Tatiana Begotti, 2023. "Pro-Environment Behaviors, Efficacy Beliefs, Perceived Individual and Social Norms: A Questionnaire Survey in a Sample of Young Adults From Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    5. Anna-Kathryn Leve & Hanno Michel & Ute Harms, 2023. "Implementing climate literacy in schools — what to teach our teachers?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-17, October.
    6. Ma, Tianyi & Moore, Jane & Cleary, Anne, 2022. "Climate change impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of young people: A scoping review of risk and protective factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    7. Gabriela Stilita & Fiona Charlson, 2024. "Keeping Sane in a Changing Climate: Assessing Psychologists’ Preparedness, Exposure to Climate-Health Impacts, Willingness to Act on Climate Change, and Barriers to Effective Action," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz & Adam Choryński & Janusz Olejnik & Hans J. Schellnhuber & Marek Urbaniak & Klaudia Ziemblińska, 2023. "Climate Change Science and Policy—A Guided Tour across the Space of Attitudes and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Alexandre Heeren & Camille Mouguiama-Daouda & Alba Contreras, 2022. "On climate anxiety and the threat it may pose to daily life functioning and adaptation: a study among European and African French-speaking participants," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Ben Mathews, 2022. "Adolescent Capacity to Consent to Participate in Research: A Review and Analysis Informed by Law, Human Rights, Ethics, and Developmental Science," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-49, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:12:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1038_s41558-021-01251-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.