Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Extreme weather events, negative impacts on agricultural production and the liveability of human settlements, as well as potential for mass migration and conflict have all been linked to climate change. This is increasingly being linked to mental health challenges such as PTSD, suicidality, depression, and substance use. At the same time, new concepts such as climate anxiety and eco-anxiety have emerged. Concerns about the mental health consequences of climate change have focused on youth, with the issue gaining attention through the activism of young people such as Greta Thunberg and Isra Hirsi. However, there is debate as to whether climate anxiety is always unhealthy or if it can instead be a healthy response to the current crisis. Furthermore, there is limited research on the role that adults and mental health professionals should play in helping young people with climate anxiety. This study will explore the impacts of climate anxiety among youth on British Columbia (BC), Canada, making use of both interviews and surveys. Twenty youth aged 13-17 will be recruited to participate in interviews. These interviews will explore young people's experiences of climate anxiety, ask how they cope, and elicit their expertise on how adults and mental health professionals can support them. Information from the interviews will then be used to create survey questions specifically about youth climate anxiety, which will be used in surveys given to 200 youth. The surveys will also have questions about overall anxiety, wellbeing, and young peoples' actions and knowledge about climate change. This will make it possible to explore the connection between climate anxiety and overall mental health, as well as whether engaging in environmental activities can be helpful, as some have suggested. This research will add needed evidence on the impacts of climate change on youth mental health in Canada as well as provide information on how to best support young people.