A Scoping Review of Climate Change, Climate-Related Disasters, and Mental Disorders among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

Children, particularly those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. Our main objective was to conduct a scoping literature review to determine how exposure to climate change and climate-related disasters influences the presence of mental disorders among children in LMICs. We also aimed to identify gaps in this area of scholarship. We included studies of children in LMICs that had a climate change or climate-related disaster exposure and mental disorder outcome. Twenty-three studies were included in the final synthesis. Fourteen studies were conducted in China, three in India, two each in Pakistan and the Philippines, and one each in Namibia and Dominica. All studies assessed the association between a climate-related disaster exposure and a mental disorder outcome, while none explored broader climate change-related exposures. Post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 21 studies) and depression (n = 8 studies) were the most common mental disorder outcomes. There was considerable between-study heterogeneity in terms of sample size, follow-up length, and outcome measurement. Overall, the literature in this area was sparse. Additional high-quality research is required to better understand the impacts of climate-related disasters and climate change on mental disorders within this population to ultimately inform future policies and interventions.

Climate change impacts on child and adolescent health and well-being: A narrative review

“…More frequent, unpredictable, and intense extreme weather events – such as storms, floods and fires – can destroy homes and livelihoods and exhaust overstretched health and other community services. According to multiple systematic reviews [ 8 , 9 ], including a review of studies specifically from low- and middle-income countries [ 10 ], prevalence rates for mental health disorders in children and adolescents vary widely in the aftermath of such disasters, ranging from 2–83% for PTSD and 2–66% for depression. The wide variation may relate to the severity of the exposure and children’s experience of loss or threats.…”

The influence of climate change on mental health in populations of the western Pacific region: An umbrella scoping review

“…There were no review articles focusing on the continental Asia regions. However, there were limited referrals about the Philippines and Vietnam in articles that studied more broad regions [ 36 , 44 , 68 ]. Thus, below, we outline the findings from this small pool of research that studied associations between typhoons and mental health outcomes.…”

“…Individuals with low socio-economic status who live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and areas that are more impacted by climate change seem to be at higher risk of declined mental health [ 7 , 36 , 43 , 44 ]. LMICs’ vulnerability to climate change relates to their limited capacity to offer economical and health support in response to climate change threats.…”

“…Consequently, populations in LMICs are more likely to face climate-related poverty and limited mental health support and are less likely to be covered by insurance. [ 36 , 44 , 45 ] In addition, individuals with low socio-economic status, irrespective of the country of residence, rely more on agriculture and natural resources for food and employment. This reliance can place them at a greater risk for malnutrition, unemployment, and home displacement when landscape changes result from climate change [ 45 ].…”

Social determinants of health as drivers of fungal disease

“…Structural and armed conflicts are associated with risk for IFIs following traumatic injury, and displacement of people fleeing conflict is associated with superficial and likely subcutaneous fungal infections. Finally, several fungal plant pathogens pose a significant threat to food security, and this threat is expected to intensify with the progression of global climate change 194 , 195 and the subsequent weather phenomenon will likely increase the vulnerability of communities to natural disaster globally. 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 These global changes are expected to predominantly affect those who are already at an increased risk for fungal infections due to inequities in SDOH.…”