Five key overviews of current research

1. Lawrance, E., Thompson, R., Fontana, G., & Jennings, N. (2021). The impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing: current evidence and implications for policy and practice. Briefing Paper. 36, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London.

2. Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S., & Reifels, L. (2018). Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12 (28). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-018-0210-6

3. Palinkas L., & Wong M. (2020). Global climate change and mental health. Current Opinion in Psychology, 32. 12-16. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.023.

4. Mental Health and our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, Responses, report from the American Psychological Association (APA) and ecoAmerica, 2021.

5. Van Susteren, L. (2020). Psychological Impacts of Climate Change and Recommendations. In W.K. Al-Delaimy, V. Ramanathan, & M. Sánchez Sorondo, M., (Eds.). Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility (pp. 177-192). Springer Open.

Essential recent studies - topics

General

APA Report: Addressing the Climate Crisis: An Action Plan for Psychologists (March 2022)

Children and Young People

• Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, E., Mayall, E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & Van Susteren, L. (2021). A global survey of climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change. Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863-e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3

Find the paper here.

A global survey of climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change.

• Ojala, M. (2012). How do children cope with global climate change? Coping Strategies, engagement and well-being.  Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32 (3) 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.02.004

A questionnaire study that researches 12-year-olds’ meaning-focused coping mechanisms. Climate Psychiatry Alliance Steering Committee member Dr. Janet Lewis calls the study “an exciting paper about coping with knowledge of climate change.”

• Marks, Elizabeth and Hickman, Caroline and Pihkala, Panu and Clayton, Susan and Lewandowski, Eric R. and Mayall, Elouise E. and Wray, Britt and Mellor, Catriona and van Susteren, Lise, Young People's Voices on Climate Anxiety, Government Betrayal and Moral Injury: A Global Phenomenon. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3918955 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3918955

  • “Climate change has significant implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to increased climate anxiety. This study offers the first large-scale investigation of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship to government response.” 
    

Air Pollution and Children

• Antonsen, S., Mok, P. L., Webb, R. T., Mortensen, P. B., McGrath, J. J., Agerbo, E., ... & Pedersen, C. B. (2020). Exposure to air pollution during childhood and risk of developing schizophrenia: a national cohort study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4 (2), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30004-8
  

• Brokamp, C., Strawn, J. R., Beck, A. F., & Ryan, P. (2019). Pediatric psychiatric emergency department utilization and fine particulate matter: A case-crossover study. Environmental health perspectives, 127 (9). https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4815 

Heat and Suicide

• Burke, M., González, F., Baylis, P., Heft-Neal, S., Baysan, C., Basu, S., & Hsiang, S. (2018). Higher temperatures increase suicide rates in the United States and Mexico. Nature climate change, 8 (8), 723-729. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0222-x

Climate Change and Trauma

• Augustinavicius, J. L., Lowe, S. R., Massazza, A., Hayes, K., Denckla, C., White, R. G., Cabán-Alemán, C., Clayton, S., Verdeli, L., Berry, H. (2021) Global climate change and trauma: An International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Briefing Paper.

Find the briefing paper here. 

Eco-Distress/Eco-Grief

• Cunsolo, A., & Ellis, N.R. (2018). Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss. Nature Climate Change, 8, 275–281. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0092-2

• Cianconi P, Hanife B, Grillo F, Betro' S, Lesmana CBJ, Janiri L. Eco-emotions and Psychoterratic Syndromes: Reshaping Mental Health Assessment Under Climate Change. Yale J Biol Med. 2023 Jun 30;96(2):211-226. doi: 10.59249/EARX2427. PMID: 37396973; PMCID: PMC10303262. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37396973/

• Myers Teresa A., Roser-Renouf Connie, Maibach Edward. Emotional responses to climate change information and their effects on policy support. Frontiers in Climate. Vol. 5 2023. doi 10.3389/fclim.2023.1135450. ISSN=2624-9553 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2023.1135450

Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

• Emma L. Lawrance, Rhiannon Thompson, Jessica Newberry Le Vay, Lisa Page & Neil Jennings (2022) The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence, and its Implications, International Review of Psychiatry, 34:5, 443-498, DOI: 10.1080/09540261.2022.2128725. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2022.2128725

• Vercammen A, Oswald T, Lawrance E (2023) Psycho-social factors associated with climate distress, hope and behavioural intentions in young UK residents. PLOS Glob Public Health 3(8): e0001938. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001938

Join us in the fight to protect our communities from the mental health impacts of the climate crisis.