Helping children thrive through climate change: Strategies for raising resilient youth in a warming world

Key takeaways for caregivers

Climate change will shape the lives of virtually every young person alive today—no matter where they live—making it crucial for families to help young people navigate both the visible and hidden effects.
Children are especially vulnerable to climate risks—from heatwaves to disasters—because their bodies are still developing and they need other people and community resources (e.g., schools and healthcare) to help them learn, grow, and be safe.
Many children feel worried or distressed by alarming reports of climate change and related disasters.
The same strategies that help children handle other challenges may support them through climate-related problems, too.
Three main strategies can address various stages of navigating climate-related threats: reduce risks from climate change, provide access to key resources amidst a changing climate, and support recovery after disaster strikes.
Families can work with children and the broader community to learn about local risks, identify steps that can help, and take action to protect themselves and others.

This blog post is based on research originally published in: Sanson, A. V., & Masten, A. S. (2023). Climate change and resilience: Developmental science perspectives. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 48(2), 93-102.

Facing the reality of climate change

There is broad scientific consensus that climate change is under way and posing serious threats to human life and well-being. Globally, the last 10 years were the hottest decade on record, with temperatures in 2024 hitting 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures.

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Record-breaking heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, and flooding, like the devastating flash floods in Texas in the summer of 2025 and the catastrophic damage of Hurricane Melissa to Jamaica a few months later, are now commonplace and cause significant suffering. At the same time, climate change is causing gradual changes, such as increasing levels of acid in the oceans, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels, putting island and coastal communities at particular risk of harm.

This unprecedented threat of climate change raises serious questions about how caregivers can support the next generation to live healthy, safe, and happy lives despite an uncertain future.

In a recent review of research on this issue, two of the authors of this post (Ann Sanson and Ann Masten) used frameworks from developmental science – resilience and positive development – to identify ways to help individuals and communities cope with climate change. In this blog post, we focus on how to support children and youth from infancy to early adulthood, whom we refer to collectively as young people.

How does climate change affect young people’s health and physical development?

Young people are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change. Their less mature neural and immune systems and lower ability to detect and respond to dangers increase their risk of death and injury, diseases, respiratory conditions, and malnutrition.

Younger children depend on care and protection from adults (parents and other caregivers) who, in disasters, are likely to be stressed and preoccupied. Worse yet, these caregivers may become unavailable through climate-related death, injury, or separation.

Climate disasters also tend to be worse in lower-income countries, which is where most young people live. In addition, poverty is linked to greater impacts from disasters, which are exacerbated by lack of resources, poor health care, and inadequate nutrition.

Climate change can affect young people in obvious ways (e.g., illness, injury) and less apparent ways (e.g., disruption to community programs). When young people are caught up in climate-related disasters, they can experience both immediate and long-term impacts to their health and well-being. Disasters can have ripple effects, like destroyed homes or closed schools, that disrupt children’s everyday lives and development.

How does climate change affect young people’s mental health and psychological well-being?

Researchers have uncovered valuable information about the psychological effects of climate change. When young people experience a climate disaster, they often show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (e.g., nightmares, intense fearfulness, irritability, intrusive memories, angry outbursts, lack of positive emotions).

They may also experience grief, anger, loss of identity, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, physical complaints, attachment disorders, increased aggression, and regressive behaviors.

When young people experience a climate disaster, they often show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (e.g., nightmares, intense fearfulness, irritability, intrusive memories, angry outbursts, lack of positive emotions).

For example, four months after floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2010, 73% of 10- to 19-year-olds who lived in the region displayed high levels of PTSD symptoms, with displaced females being the most affected. While most children exposed to a disaster recover over time, as many as a third of children showed elevated PTSD symptoms after one year, and as many as a quarter showed symptoms two to four years later.

Climate distress and anticipating impact

Other psychological effects arise from anticipating worsening climate impacts. In our review of studies from around the world, we learned that most young people know about climate change and many report feelings of anxiety, grief, loss, anger, frustration, hopelessness, helplessness, guilt/shame, confusion, betrayal, or a sense of abandonment, reactions collectively referred to as climate distress.

In a recent survey of 10,000 16- to 25-year-olds from 10 nations in both the global North and South, most youth experienced significant climate distress. Almost 60% of these young people reported feeling “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change; only 5% said they were not worried at all.

Learning from models of resilience and positive development

Research on resilience and positive development offers helpful insights into how to protect young people’s health and development from the risks of climate change. Resilience means being able to adjust and function well after a challenge. Children draw on support from their family and community, as well as their own skills, to build resilience over time.

Examples of resources that foster resilience in children include:

Community resources: emergency and health care services; child care centers and schools; and other places where children feel safe and that they belong, are supported, and can participate in religious and cultural traditions or other activities;

Interpersonal/family resources: sensitive caregiving; positive family routines; supportive relationships with family, friends, teachers, and mentors; and

Individual resources: effective stress regulation; problem-solving and self-control skills; hope; a sense of belonging, purpose, or meaning; and agency.

These resources generally support positive development, and they may become especially important when young people are exposed to adversities, such as those resulting from climate change.

Three strategies to promote young people’s resilience and positive development amid climate change

Research in many countries and cultures suggests three basic ways to support healthy development in young people facing various types of adversities (Masten, 2025). In our work, we apply these three broad strategies to the challenges posed by climate change. We explore how these strategies suggest ways to act before, during, and after disaster strikes a community.

Strategy 1: Proactively reduce the likelihood and severity of problems from climate change

The first approach, risk reduction, aims to lessen the likelihood or lower the intensity of risks posed to young people’s development and well-being. In the context of climate change, this is the most critical strategy at a global level.

To reduce the risk of massive suffering for current and future generations, humans must limit the progression of climate change by rapidly lowering greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions mainly arise from the production and use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) that prevent heat from escaping the earth’s atmosphere. This emissions reduction is essential and requires broad societal changes, especially by corporations and governments.

How communities can mitigate climate risks

On a smaller scale, many strategies can be implemented at home and in local communities to lower risks of young people encountering problems from local climate change. Individuals and local communities can develop plans by learning which climate risks (e.g., flooding, wildfire) are most likely in their area and identifying ways to stay safe.

Involving young people in efforts to reduce the risk of disaster in age-appropriate ways can both lower risk and build their sense of agency (the belief that they can make a difference), self-efficacy (the belief that they can succeed on a particular task), and hopefulness—all of which are key drivers of resilience.

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For example, if a family finds out they live in an area at risk of wildfires, they might remove vegetation around their house, install a sprinkler system, and prepare an evacuation plan. Young people can help with these tasks, such as by preparing a “go bag” with the essentials the family would need if they had to move to a safer place.

Older youth might take responsibility for identifying what needs to be purchased, while young children could help by deciding on special snacks or toys to include in the bag. By taking steps in both the family and the broader community, families can help reduce the negative impacts of climate change on young people.

Strategy 2: Support young people during ongoing climate change

Families can also help young people during ongoing challenges. The second approach to promoting resilience involves boosting access to resources that support young people and protect them against risks from exposure to adversity.

In the context of ongoing climate change, this protective strategy includes ensuring that basic needs for survival and development are met. These needs include clean water, food, medical care, and shelter, regardless of the local climate and possible future disasters.

For healthy development, children also need responsive caregiving and access to early childhood education and good schools. Parents and teachers can commit to taking the time to listen to children’s concerns about climate change, and provide access to books and other materials to help them understand the local climate; have opportunities to appreciate nature ; and learn about climate change, risk reduction, and protecting the earth.

Strategy 3: After climate-related disasters, collaborate with young people to strategize recovery plans

When disaster does strike, recovery efforts become essential for survivors. The third strategy aims to mobilize or restore support for young people after disaster strikes.

It is important to restore social support during these challenging times. Efforts can involve reuniting families separated during the event, establishing safe and comfortable caregiving alternatives when caregivers are lost or injured, and increasing a sense of belonging among displaced individuals in the aftermath of disasters.

Listening to young people and engaging with them in activities that build agency and a sense of individual and collective efficacy (the belief that people together can make a difference) can help counter feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and despair, while also building problem-solving and coping capacities.

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Restoring familiar routines

Similarly, restoring familiar routines, such as school schedules, family rituals, sports activities, and traditional cultural practices, can also convey a sense of meaning and normalcy while facing adversity.

It is important to restore social support during these challenging times.

For example, after schools in a community have been devastated by a hurricane, a coordinated response by government agencies and non-governmental organizations could quickly establish child-friendly spaces where young children can feel safe, adolescents are invited to organize activities, and parents can share their experiences and plans for the future.

Ways to help young people cope with the challenge of climate change

The following suggestions are ways caregivers can use these three strategies to help young people manage amid climate change. Caregivers can:

Minimize the likelihood that young people will experience climate disasters through individual and collective efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., shifting toward a more plant-based diet, voting for politicians who support climate action).
Identify sources of potential harm to neighborhoods and encourage community action to prevent or prepare for likely disasters.
Ensure that homes, schools, playgrounds, and other spaces where young people spend time are designed (or updated) to withstand anticipated climate change, as much as possible.
Find out together where to go in an emergency (e.g., shelters, clinics) and help young people feel prepared, not panicked.
Demonstrate caring about the planet by modeling related actions, such as biking to school, growing vegetables, or talking about your hopes for a healthier world.
Talk to young people about climate change:
- Find out what they know and how they feel.
- If they express worry or other negative emotions, validate them while also providing realistic reassurance (e.g., “I can understand why you are worried, it is a big problem. It helps me if I think about what I can do to help, and about all the people around the world trying to address this problem”).
- Discuss local risks with young people, and build their sense of agency by identifying actions they can take alone, actions that can be taken as a family, and actions they can take with others (e.g., turning off the lights when leaving a room, recycling, planting flowers for bees and butterflies, and advocating for protective policy changes). Build young people’s sense of hope. Be clear and realistic. Young children may find it helpful to know that many adults are working on these issues. Older children may be interested in specific information about what scientists and organizations are doing to protect the planet.
- Encourage older children to join other young people in their climate actions, which is likely to be more fun, as well as more educational and effective. They may also want to know about how youth around the world are joining in efforts to persuade policymakers and decision makers to take action for the climate.
- Older children may also appreciate reminders that “we have solved big problems before” with examples they can relate to (e.g., abolishing slavery, rebuilding communities after wildfires and hurricanes, reducing the use of pesticides that kill birds), noting the importance of many people coming together to demand change.
If a climate-related disaster strikes, restore a sense of safety, security, and belonging:
- Reconnect (or build new relationships) with neighbors, teachers, or places young people know and love.
- Bring back comforting routines (e.g., bedtime stories, family meals, walks to school) as much as possible.
- Give young people an important role to play in recovery and reconstruction (e.g., helping with cleanups or food deliveries to those in need).