Supporting young people with climate anxiety: mitigation, adaptation, and resilience
Authors: Emily A Hurley, Sarah L Dalglish, Emma Sacks
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2022)

"The future is frightening" for 75% of children and young people (age 16–25 years), according to the sobering results of Caroline Hickman and colleagues' ten-country survey published in The Lancet Planetary Health.1Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar Climate anxiety among young people, they rightfully argue, can only be truly mitigated if those in power take meaningful action to address climate change. But as governments continue to stall, parents, teachers, and mental health professionals need evidence-based strategies to support young people with climate anxiety in their communities. Just as communities expand irrigation systems in response to drier land, we need strategies of adaptation that promote mental wellbeing among young people experiencing the effects of climate change. Just as we build storm walls in anticipation of extreme weather, we need strategies of psychological resilience to prepare young people with the strength they will need to face the impending threats of their future.It is unsurprising that older generations often respond to young people's climate concerns in unhelpful and misaligned ways,2Benoit L Thomas I Martin A Ecological awareness, anxiety, and actions among youth and their parents – a qualitative study of newspaper narratives.Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2022; 27: 47-58Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar, 3Bright ML Eames C From apathy through anxiety to action: emotions as motivators for youth climate strike leaders.Aust J Environ Educ. 2021; (published online Oct 29.)https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2021.22Google Scholar because the existing toolbox for addressing more pathological forms of anxiety has left them woefully unprepared. Climate anxiety is not a pathological condition, but an expected, adaptive response to a real and enormous threat. Amid this threat, aiming to simply reduce climate anxiety would be a dangerous goal that might be best achieved by promoting unawareness or misinformation.Hickman and colleagues have made major strides in defining and measuring the unique, non-pathological experience of climate anxiety among children and young people. Their work should also catalyse efforts in defining and measuring psychological adaptation and resilience to give communities appropriate benchmarks in supporting mental health in children and young people. In extending preliminary work on coping4Ojala M Regulating worry, promoting hope: how do children, adolescents, and young adults cope with climate change?.Int J Environ Sci Educ. 2012; 7: 537-561Google Scholar to a global scale, we might better understand what mental wellbeing looks like for children and young people confronting challenges related to climate change and create more effective forms of community-level5Sacks E Yangchen S Marten R COVID-19, climate change, and communities.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e663-e664Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar and interpersonal support that are relevant, validating, and empowering.It is completely unfair to ask a generation of young people to develop enhanced psychological stamina to face climate change. But because of decades of inaction on the part of previous generations, they are being asked to do so. We owe it to children and young people to prioritise mitigation of climate change at its source, while at the same time investing in evidence-based tools to support their mental wellbeing in the face of this ongoing crisis. In the process, we might see the generation of young people living in this era of unpresented uncertainty become the most resilient generation yet. "The future is frightening" for 75% of children and young people (age 16–25 years), according to the sobering results of Caroline Hickman and colleagues' ten-country survey published in The Lancet Planetary Health.1Hickman C Marks E Pihkala P et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e863-e873Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar Climate anxiety among young people, they rightfully argue, can only be truly mitigated if those in power take meaningful action to address climate change. But as governments continue to stall, parents, teachers, and mental health professionals need evidence-based strategies to support young people with climate anxiety in their communities. Just as communities expand irrigation systems in response to drier land, we need strategies of adaptation that promote mental wellbeing among young people experiencing the effects of climate change. Just as we build storm walls in anticipation of extreme weather, we need strategies of psychological resilience to prepare young people with the strength they will need to face the impending threats of their future. It is unsurprising that older generations often respond to young people's climate concerns in unhelpful and misaligned ways,2Benoit L Thomas I Martin A Ecological awareness, anxiety, and actions among youth and their parents – a qualitative study of newspaper narratives.Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2022; 27: 47-58Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar, 3Bright ML Eames C From apathy through anxiety to action: emotions as motivators for youth climate strike leaders.Aust J Environ Educ. 2021; (published online Oct 29.)https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2021.22Google Scholar because the existing toolbox for addressing more pathological forms of anxiety has left them woefully unprepared. Climate anxiety is not a pathological condition, but an expected, adaptive response to a real and enormous threat. Amid this threat, aiming to simply reduce climate anxiety would be a dangerous goal that might be best achieved by promoting unawareness or misinformation. Hickman and colleagues have made major strides in defining and measuring the unique, non-pathological experience of climate anxiety among children and young people. Their work should also catalyse efforts in defining and measuring psychological adaptation and resilience to give communities appropriate benchmarks in supporting mental health in children and young people. In extending preliminary work on coping4Ojala M Regulating worry, promoting hope: how do children, adolescents, and young adults cope with climate change?.Int J Environ Sci Educ. 2012; 7: 537-561Google Scholar to a global scale, we might better understand what mental wellbeing looks like for children and young people confronting challenges related to climate change and create more effective forms of community-level5Sacks E Yangchen S Marten R COVID-19, climate change, and communities.Lancet Planet Health. 2021; 5: e663-e664Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar and interpersonal support that are relevant, validating, and empowering. It is completely unfair to ask a generation of young people to develop enhanced psychological stamina to face climate change. But because of decades of inaction on the part of previous generations, they are being asked to do so. We owe it to children and young people to prioritise mitigation of climate change at its source, while at the same time investing in evidence-based tools to support their mental wellbeing in the face of this ongoing crisis. In the process, we might see the generation of young people living in this era of unpresented uncertainty become the most resilient generation yet. We declare no competing interests. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global surveyClimate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses are widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning. A perceived failure by governments to respond to the climate crisis is associated with increased distress. There is an urgent need for further research into the emotional impact of climate change on children and young people and for governments to validate their distress by taking urgent action on climate change. Full-Text PDF Open Access