Page 67 - IJPS-10-2

International Journal of

Population Studies

REPORT
Climate change, natural disasters, and mental

health of adolescents: A qualitative study from
Bangladesh

1
3
2
Md Abu Bakkar Siddik , Morioum Sarkar Munmun , Zobayer Ahmed *,
4
Kamruzzaman Nabil , and Nazirum Mubin 5
1 State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing
University, Nanjing, China
2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 Department of Economics and Banking, Faculty of Social Sciences, International Islamic University
Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh
4 School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
5 Department of Radiotherapy, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract
Bangladesh is among the countries severely affected by climate change, experiencing
annual flooding in certain regions during the rainy season. These floods force
people from affected areas to seek refuge in temporary shelters. However, life in
*Corresponding author:
Zobayer Ahmed these shelters presents significant challenges, including physical and mental health
(zobayer.ahmed@lisansustu.selcuk. concerns, as well as socioeconomic challenges. Despite this, the mental health
edu.tr) of adolescents living in flood shelters in natural disaster-prone areas remained
Citation: Siddik, M.A.B., understudied. This study aimed to examine the mental health of adolescents residing
Munmun, M.S., Ahmed, Z., Nabil, K. in flood shelters. Qualitative research tools are particularly effective for investigating
& Mubin, N. (2024). Climate mental health issues among specific age groups during disasters. Therefore, we
change, natural disasters, and
mental health of adolescents: conducted in-depth interviews with 53 adolescents who lived in shelters during
A qualitative study from the 2022 floods in northeastern Bangladesh. Our findings revealed a concerning
Bangladesh. International Journal of prevalence of mental health issues among adolescents affected by floods. Rates of
Population Studies, 10(2):61-70.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0339 depression, psychological distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were
notably elevated. Approximately 60.72% of the boys were suffering from PTSD, with
Received: March 16, 2023
around 71.42% of them experiencing depression. Among girls, 80% were affected
Accepted: November 1, 2023 by PTSD, while 84% were suffering from depression. Our research also highlights a
Published Online: February 26, gender disparity, with girls exhibiting higher levels of depression and trauma than
2024 boys. These findings provide valuable insights to guide both government and non-
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). government organizations in formulating future policies regarding natural disaster
This is an Open-Access article management.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, Keywords: Adolescents; Climate change; Flood shelters; Mental health; Natural disaster
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Global climate change has led to an increase in the frequency and severity of natural
affiliations. disasters in coastal countries, resulting in a negative impact on the mental health of victims

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 61 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0339