Climate change is impacting adolescent wellbeing in areas most affected by climate change, according to a new study in Madagascar involving a UCL researcher.
The authors of the Journal of Climate Change and Health study have called for mental health supports to be built into climate adaptation efforts to help young people facing an uncertain future.
The threats to child and adolescent health posed by climate change are well-documented, but there is limited research into its effects on mental health in the low- and middle-income countries that are most affected by the climate crisis.
The study, conducted by researchers in Trinity College Dublin, UCL, Queen Mary University of London, the Catholic University of Madagascar, and CBM Global, reveals that climate change is having a severe impact on adolescent mental health in southern Madagascar. The mixed-methods study gathered survey data from 83 adolescents, alongside data from focus groups undertaken with 48 of those same adolescents, across six rural villages in March 2024.
Young people in the region report extremely high levels of anxiety, depression, and climate change worry, with many describing a sense of hopelessness about the future. Participants described feeling powerless, with one adolescent saying, "I have no idea what I can do to be happy" and another indicating "life is a misery".
Lead author Dr Kristin Hadfield (School of Psychology and Trinity Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin) said: "Young people in southern Madagascar are the unwilling pioneers of the impact of climate change. They can provide important insights into the way climate changes impact on adolescent mental health.
"This research makes it clear that climate change is not just an environmental issue - it is a mental health issue as well. We found that chronic climate stressors - not just extreme weather events - are already shaping adolescent mental health. In higher-income countries, climate anxiety often focuses on future risks, but in Madagascar, young people are already living the reality."
The study found that climate change affected adolescent mental health through three main pathways: loss of household resources, uncertainty about the future, and disruption of coping mechanisms.
Food insecurity is particularly severe - 90% of households had run out of food in the past year, and 69% of adolescents had gone an entire day without eating.
Many of the survey respondents expressed deep distress over their families' struggles, and most had witnessed people in their communities starve to death. As one adolescent put it, "so many died … there were many elders, but they died because of the malnutrition". Another stated simply, "there is no water and when sunlight is burning, we are suffering".
Co-author Professor Samuel Solomon (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "While the resilience we found among young people in southern Madagascar was inspiring, their lives are tragically susceptible to the effects of climate change. We found that the food insecurity and uncertainty that accompanies climate change is severely impacting young people's mental health there, with implications for the future as well as the present."
Co-author Professor Isabelle Mareschal (School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London) said: "Young people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This research finds that we need to also consider how climate change impacts their mental health. We hope that these findings can help inform interventions to improve mental health outcomes, with a focus on young people in low- and middle-income countries."
The study was conducted in southern Madagascar's Grand Sud region, which is one of the most severely climate change affected areas in the world. A famine believed to be driven by climate change occurred in this region in 2021.
Co-author Dr Nambinina Rasolomalala (Catholic University of Madagascar) said: "Adolescents in Androy, southern Madagascar, speak of famine, fear, and futures stolen by drought and sandstorms. With crops failing and water scarce, many adolescents are forced to leave their communities to survive, while those who stay face hunger, lost education, and deep despair."
Co-author Satry Ramaroson, Madagascar Country Director for CBM Global, added: "Climate change is causing suffering for children and adolescents in the south of Madagascar. Recurring droughts fuel food crises and loss of hope, with adolescents with disabilities among the most affected."
