Australian Youth Mental Health and Climate Change Concern After the Black Summer Bushfires

Amy D. Lykins; Melissa Parsons; Belinda M. Craig; Suzanne M. Cosh; Donald W. Hine; Clara Murray

doi:10.1007/s10393-023-01630-1

Australian Youth Mental Health and Climate Change Concern After the Black Summer Bushfires

Amy D. Lykins^*
, Melissa Parsons
, Belinda M. Craig
, Suzanne M. Cosh
, Donald W. Hine
, Clara Murray

^*Corresponding author for this work

Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

156 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Climate change and its effects present notable challenges for mental health, particularly for vulnerable populations, including young people. Immediately following the unprecedented Black Summer bushfire season of 2019/2020, 746 Australians (aged 16–25 years) completed measures of mental health and perceptions of climate change. Results indicated greater presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorder symptoms, substance abuse, and climate change distress and concern, as well as lower psychological resilience and perceived distance to climate change, in participants with direct exposure to these bushfires. Findings highlight significant vulnerabilities of concern for youth mental health as climate change advances.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3-8
Number of pages	6
Journal	Ecohealth
Volume	20
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-023-01630-1
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 13 Climate Action

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Australian Youth Mental Health and Climate Change Concern After the Black Summer BushfiresFinal published version, 166 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Climate change and its effects present notable challenges for mental health, particularly for vulnerable populations, including young people. Immediately following the unprecedented Black Summer bushfire season of 2019/2020, 746 Australians (aged 16–25 years) completed measures of mental health and perceptions of climate change. Results indicated greater presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorder symptoms, substance abuse, and climate change distress and concern, as well as lower psychological resilience and perceived distance to climate change, in participants with direct exposure to these bushfires. Findings highlight significant vulnerabilities of concern for youth mental health as climate change advances.",

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AU - Hine, Donald W.

AU - Murray, Clara

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N2 - Climate change and its effects present notable challenges for mental health, particularly for vulnerable populations, including young people. Immediately following the unprecedented Black Summer bushfire season of 2019/2020, 746 Australians (aged 16–25 years) completed measures of mental health and perceptions of climate change. Results indicated greater presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorder symptoms, substance abuse, and climate change distress and concern, as well as lower psychological resilience and perceived distance to climate change, in participants with direct exposure to these bushfires. Findings highlight significant vulnerabilities of concern for youth mental health as climate change advances.

AB - Climate change and its effects present notable challenges for mental health, particularly for vulnerable populations, including young people. Immediately following the unprecedented Black Summer bushfire season of 2019/2020, 746 Australians (aged 16–25 years) completed measures of mental health and perceptions of climate change. Results indicated greater presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorder symptoms, substance abuse, and climate change distress and concern, as well as lower psychological resilience and perceived distance to climate change, in participants with direct exposure to these bushfires. Findings highlight significant vulnerabilities of concern for youth mental health as climate change advances.

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Australian Youth Mental Health and Climate Change Concern After the Black Summer Bushfires

Abstract

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