Page 154 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Parenting in a changing climate

cultivate empowerment (Trott, 2020). Moreover, parental highlights the importance of providing sufficient support,
education can be done collectively in a community, which education, and opportunities for action to parents, helping
is often more conducive to children’s mental health as it them manage climate anxiety for both themselves and
can address a sense of loneliness (Trott, 2019). A sense their children. These implications are crucial for shaping
of loneliness is a risk factor for children’s mental health, policies, interventions, and educational strategies aimed at
particularly those in minority groups (Murthy, 2022). mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on mental
Learning that other children share similar concerns, well-being, particularly among the younger generation.
leading to common humanity, can reduce distress (Kotera Therefore, further empirical and pragmatic studies are
et al., 2024a). Methods for climate change education can needed to ascertain the impact of parental education on
be diversified. For example, climate change education can children.
be offered digitally, supported by parents, so that children
can see images or videos to understand climate change Acknowledgments
(Trott, 2020). Parents can also embed a conversation None.
about climate change in their daily routine with children
(Trott, 2022). Long-term and informal engagement by Funding
both children and parents about climate change can None.
enable children’s perspectives to shift, which can prevent
children from feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude Conflict of interest
of climate change. Families must be provided with age-
appropriate interventions and education to support their The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
understanding while simultaneously safeguarding and Author contributions
developing their emotional resilience.
While our study offers helpful insights into climate Conceptualization: Jessica Eve Jackson, Rebecca Rawson,
change anxiety and family communication, several Rory Colman, Yasuhiro Kotera
limitations should be noted. First, our sample size did Investigation: Jessica Eve Jackson, Rebecca Rawson, Rory
not reach the number estimated in our power calculation, Colman, Yasuhiro Kotera
and participants were recruited using a non-probabilistic Methodology: Jessica Eve Jackson, Rebecca Rawson, Rory
sampling technique. Second, the use of self-report Colman, Yasuhiro Kotera
measures introduces potential response biases (Kotera Writing–original draft: All authors
et al., 2022). Third, as a cross-sectional study, it cannot Writing–review & editing: All authors
determine the causal direction of the observed effects – Ethics approval and consent to participate
whether high anxiety leads to more conversations about
climate change or vice versa. Relatedly, climate change This study received ethical approval from the College of
anxiety is a newly defined construct, and its long-term Health, Psychology, and Social Care, University of Derby
impact remains unknown (e.g., longitudinal studies of (ethics reference number: ETH2223-2559). Online consent
COVID-19 report changes in mental health) (Kotera et al., was obtained from all participants before completing the
2024b). Future research should employ larger data sets questionnaire.
(e.g., national level) and conduct longitudinal evaluations
to address these gaps. Consent for publication
This online questionnaire was anonymous, and all
5. Conclusion participants took part with the understanding that the
The study contributes valuable insights into the nuanced results would be published.
relationship between climate change anxiety and mental
health among parents in the UK. It reveals that families Availability of data
with younger parents tend to be more concerned regarding The data are available from the authors on reasonable
the impact of climate change. Parents who were particularly request.
vulnerable to climate change anxiety were those living in
inner-city communities. However, parents who feel they References
are directly experiencing the impact of climate change Alliance, C.P. (2020). Climate Psychology Handbook. Available
are more likely to engage in environmentally friendly or from: https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/index.
pro-environmental behaviors and have discussions with php/component/content/article/climate-psychology-
their families about their concerns. The study, therefore, handbook?catid=15&Itemid=101 [Last accessed on 2024

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 7 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3172