Estimating the impacts of climate distress amongst an Australian youth population

Abstract Background Climate change is widely recognised as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century, with young people expected to bear a disproportionate share of its current and future impacts. Consistent with this heightened vulnerability, substantial proportions of young people worldwide report experiencing climate-related distress, yet the impact that climate change has on mental health remains underexplored. Methods This study identified characteristics that were cross-sectionally associated with climate distress amongst a cohort of young Australians who had recently been exposed a series of climate-related events ( N = 323, M age = 20.26). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used for this cross-sectional analysis. Further, a longitudinal analysis was conducted using linear mixed models to estimate the impact that climate distress had on mental health symptoms (depression, stress, and anxiety), sleep quality, and substance use over a one-year period (2020–2021). Results Cross-sectional analyses demonstrated that females, gender-diverse individuals, and those not engaged in employment, education, or training (NEET) reported significantly higher climate distress at baseline as compared to their respective counterparts. Further, those reporting greater altruism, elevated depression and stress, and lower anxiety also reported higher levels of climate distress at baseline. Linear mixed models (LMMs) revealed climate distress was linked to increasing depression and stress symptoms, but reductions in drug use. Climate distress was not associated with anxiety, sleep quality, or alcohol consumption in LMMs. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that amongst a sample of young Australians, higher climate distress tends to be experienced by those who are already disposed to poorer mental health. As such, mental health related consequences of climate change may be considered one way in which climate change exacerbates pre-existing inequalities. These findings also contribute to understanding of the potential impacts that climate distress has on mental health, justifying the need for interventions for climate distress to lessen its impact on vulnerable groups and the wider mental-health crisis as the climate crisis intensifies.