New Study: Climate Concerns Do Not Affect Young People’s Mental Health

Young adults’ concerns about climate change do not appear to lead to poorer mental health. This is shown by new research from Aarhus University, which contradicts the results of previous studies in the field.

“We were actually quite shocked. I have been working in climate research for a number of years now, and I have met many activists and other concerned individuals who are greatly affected by the lack of climate action,” says Katie Major-Smith, one of the researchers behind the study.

Together with her husband, Dan Major-Smith, she analyzed data from the long-running British research project “Children of the 90s,” which has followed over 14,000 people since the 1990s. The data includes participants’ mental health and attitudes towards the climate.

“Our results were surprising, but we should not get carried away. We do not have particularly good data on climate anxiety. We have data on climate concerns, and that is not necessarily the same as anxiety,” says Dan Major-Smith, adding, “If we conducted the same study but had good data on climate anxiety, I believe the results would have looked significantly different.”

The couple, both affiliated with Aarhus University, conducted the study together for the first time. Katie Major-Smith contributed her knowledge of climate science, while Dan Major-Smith was responsible for the data analysis.

The study sought answers to two central questions: do climate concerns affect mental health, and can climate action—such as planting trees or using public transportation—alleviate concerns? In both cases, the researchers found no correlation.

“To me, it makes sense that taking action and being part of a movement trying to make a change would alleviate your concerns. But again, we found no correlation,” says Katie Major-Smith.

The researchers point out that the age of the participants—now around 30 years old—could be an explanation. Previous studies have typically focused on individuals under 25 years old, who are often more engaged in the climate movement.

Furthermore, the difference between climate concern and climate anxiety could be crucial. “To answer our questions, we need long data series that delve into climate anxiety and not just climate concerns,” emphasizes Dan Major-Smith.

He concludes: “We do not know why these differences exist. There are still many unanswered questions, which I hope will be addressed in the future.”