1186332

research-article2023
JBD0010.1177/01650254231186332International Journal of Behavioral DevelopmentSanson and Masten

Special Section: Climate Change

International Journal of

Climate change and resilience: Behavioral Development

2024, Vol. 48(2) 93­–102
© The Author(s) 2023
Developmental science perspectives
Article reuse guidelines:
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https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231186332
DOI: 10.1177/01650254231186332
journals.sagepub.com/home/jbd
Ann V. Sanson1 and Ann S. Masten2

Abstract
Climate change is a complex, multisystem phenomenon that disrupts human development both directly and indirectly through the
interactions of interconnected systems. This article outlines the physical, social, and psychological impacts of exposure to climate
disasters, which are already increasing in frequency and ferocity across the globe. Climate change poses particular challenges for
billions of people with vulnerabilities related to geography, age, injustice, poverty, and many other social or economic disadvantages.
In this article, we apply resilience and positive development frameworks to describe the resources and processes at the level of the
individual, the family, and the community that can prepare and support people as they contend with the impacts of climate change. To
illustrate these frameworks in action, we give examples of promising interventions that focus on mobilizing powerful human adaptive
systems to build hope, agency, social cohesion, and a shared sense of belonging. We conclude by calling on developmental scientists
to engage in research, interventions, and collaborative advocacy to address the unprecedented and existential threat posed by climate
change.

Keywords
Climate change, resilience, developmental science, children and youth

There is now no doubt that climate change is underway and
already posing serious threats to human life and well-being.
Global temperatures have increased by over 1.2°C in response to
rising greenhouse gas concentrations, which are now higher than
they have been for millions of years. Around the globe, record-
breaking heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, flooding,
and coastal inundation have become commonplace, causing
untold suffering. Underscoring the increasing frequency and
severity of climate-fueled disasters, the United States’ National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA; NOAA
National Centers for Environmental Information [NCEI], 2022)
reported that the number of billion-dollar disaster events per year
in the country has increased from an average of 6.3 from 2000–
2009 to 20 in 2021.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres
described the 2021 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC, 2021) as nothing less than “a code red
for humanity—the alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is
irrefutable” (UN, 2021, para. 2). Even now, climate scientists
believe the planet is on the brink of irreversible tipping points,
such as changes in ocean currents that would have catastrophic
impacts (Steffen et al., 2018). Feedback loops with cascading
effects are evident: for example, as the Arctic permafrost melts in
response to higher temperatures, it releases large quantities of
methane, causing further warming. Avoiding the most cata-
strophic climate effects requires immediate, rapid, and large-
scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but most countries
are not on track to achieve adequate reductions (United Nations
Climate Change, 2022).
The magnitude of this unprecedented threat casts doubt on the
future of human civilization, leading many to identify climate
change as an existential crisis. How, then, can developmental sci-
entists contribute to the urgent task of protecting development for
current and future generations? Clearly, the first priority must be
risk reduction, including reductions in greenhouse gas concentra-
tions. However, even with urgent action at a global scale, the
planet will face a hotter and more unstable climate for decades if
not centuries (US Global Change Research Program [USGCRP],
2018). Therefore, even as we advocate for urgent climate action,
developmental scientists must take action to support the capacity
of people of all ages—and particularly young people—to cope
with what inevitably lies ahead, collaborating with other scien-
tists, practitioners, and policymakers to build multiple-system
resilience against the threats of climate change.
This article begins by highlighting how climate change dis-
rupts human development both directly and indirectly through
the interactions of interconnected systems. We describe the phys-
ical and psychological impacts of exposure to climate disasters,
noting the injustice inherent in how these are distributed, which
in turn exacerbates existing inequalities. Next, we discuss how a
1
The University of Melbourne, Australia
2
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, USA
Corresponding author:
Ann V. Sanson, The Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of
Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
Email: annvs@unimelb.edu.au
94
multisystem understanding of climate change can advance efforts
to envision and implement multisystem solutions. Specifically,
we use resilience and positive development frameworks to iden-
tify factors and processes across systems (familial, social, cul-
tural, economic, etc.) that can support positive adaptation to
climate change in individuals and communities. We provide
examples of interventions that mobilize naturally occurring adap-
tive systems to build hope, agency, social cohesion, and a shared
sense of belonging in the face of loss and uncertainty. We con-
clude by calling on developmental scientists to respond to the
climate crisis through creative research, effective local and global
interventions, and collaborative advocacy.
Impacts of Climate Change on
Human Development
The effects of climate change are becoming ever more evident,
amplifying the frequency and intensity of acute disasters such as
floods and wildfires, while also causing longer-term damage in
the form of droughts, desertification, and rising sea levels.
However, due to interactions across all levels of human ecology,
the effects of climate change have dynamic repercussions across
regional, national, community, family, and individual systems
(Evans, 2019; Sanson, Malca, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2022). The
direct consequences of climate disasters for physical health,
including deaths and injuries, diseases, respiratory conditions,
and malnutrition, are now well-documented (Watts et al., 2021).
However, climate-fueled disasters also instigate cascading chains
of events that damage the infrastructure that supports human life
and development, such as education systems, health systems,
transportation systems, food production, and distribution sys-
tems, as well as waste disposal systems. Some of these impacts
may take years to become noticeable. Prolonged famine-related
malnutrition, for example, can cause neurological damage, cog-
nitive impairment, and physical disabilities (Anderko et al.,
2020; Sanson, Malca, & Van Hoorn, 2022; Watts et al., 2021). As
mosquito habitats expand, so does the geographical range of
pathogens like the Zika virus, which poses serious risks to chil-
dren’s physical and cognitive development. The damage may
even span generations: When climate change reduces the quan-
tity and quality of food available to pregnant women, the devel-
oping child’s health suffers (Blakstad & Smith, 2020).
There also is an established relationship between climate
change and conflict. Climate crises threaten political and eco-
nomic stability by damaging resources like habitable and arable
land; it is for this reason that the UN Security Council describes
climate change as a “threat multiplier” (United Nations News
[UN News], 2019). The World Bank predicts that hundreds of
millions of people will be displaced due to climate change by
2050 (Rigaud et al., 2018). Already, millions of “climate refu-
gees” have been forced to leave their homes due to extreme tem-
peratures, failed food production, unavailability of clean water,
destruction of housing and other infrastructure, or the conflicts
that have arisen as a result of these events. Multiple studies show
that increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns are
associated with increases in violence and conflict between indi-
viduals, groups, and nation-states (Hsiang et al., 2013). In the
aftermath of disasters, community violence and domestic vio-
lence can increase, and some parents turn to more punitive
International Journal of Behavioral Development 48(2)
parenting practices (Molyneaux et al., 2019; Sanson, Malca, Van
Hoorn, & Burke, 2022).
People with existing vulnerabilities are most likely to be
impacted by climate-related damage and loss. For example, indi-
viduals with disabilities (around 15% of the global population)
are especially likely to face injury or death during a disaster
(Bennett, 2020). Although these vulnerabilities were neglected
for many years, disaster risk reduction efforts have recently
increased their focus on addressing special needs related to disa-
bilities, exemplified by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015–2030 adopted at a UN world conference in 2015
(Stough & Kang, 2015). Another salient vulnerability is older
age. A review by Gamble and colleagues (2013) found that older
adults face higher risk during and after exposure to heat waves
and other extreme weather events, as well as infectious diseases
and declining air quality. Older adults are likely to have lower
socioeconomic status and higher levels of dependence on others,
and they may also have decreased mobility, functional limita-
tions, declining immune function, increased frailty, waning cog-
nitive capacities, and multi-morbidity that make them less able to
escape from disasters and survive injuries and illnesses incurred
during them. When Hurricane Katrina hit the United States in
2005, almost 50% of the deceased were older than 75 years
(Jonkman et al., 2009).
Young people are arguably the age group that is most vulner-
able to climate change, for multiple reasons (Thoma et al., 2021).
Younger children and youth depend on care and protection from
adults (parents and other carers). In disaster situations, those who
supervise and care for children are likely to be stressed and pre-
occupied or worse, unavailable through death, injury, or separation.
Young people also are overrepresented among the impoverished
sectors of many nations. Poverty is associated not only with
greater disaster exposure but also with greater vulnerability to
disaster effects, such as poor health care and inadequate nutrition
(Fothergill, 2017). Moreover, children have less mature neural
and immune systems and less capacity for detecting and respond-
ing to dangers (American Public Health Association [APHA],
2019; Oberg et al., 2021; United Nations Children’s Fund
[UNICEF], 2021). They breathe more air and drink more fluid
for their body weight than adults, and these characteristics, along
with their shorter height, their tendency to spend more time on
the ground, and to engage in more hand-to-mouth motions, all
increase their exposure to air, water, and soil pollutants, and dis-
ease vectors (APHA, 2019). For such reasons, the World Health
Organization has estimated that over 80% of the physical health
impacts of climate change will be experienced by children
(McMichael et al., 2004).
Furthermore, today’s children are likely to experience multi-
ple climate-related stressors whose impacts will accumulate over
their lives. Thiery et al. (2021) showed that, even if warming is
limited to 1.5°C, a child born in 2020 is on average likely to
experience up to 24 times as many climate-induced extreme
weather events (heat waves, wildfires, crop failures, droughts,
river floods, and tropical cyclones) in their lifetime as someone
born in the 1960s. UNICEF (2021) recently developed the
Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) that rates nations on 57
variables, from the risk of direct exposure to climate and environ-
mental disasters (e.g., disease or drought) to broader systemic
factors, like health and nutrition systems, education, sanitation,
poverty, communications, and social protection. UNICEF found
Sanson and Masten
that approximately 1 billion children globally—nearly half of the
world’s children—live in countries (predominantly in the Global
South) that are at an “extremely high-risk” from the impacts of
climate change. Furthermore, it found that almost every child is
exposed to at least one serious climate or environmental hazard,
and 850 million children—approximately one-third of all chil-
dren globally—are exposed to four or more hazards, leading to
the conclusion that the climate crisis “is already having a devas-
tating impact on the well-being of children globally” (UNICEF,
2021, p. 9).
There also is growing recognition of psychological effects
from climate-related disasters, both experienced and anticipated.
Among adults, psychological effects of disaster exposure include
anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, post-traumatic stress, and
suicidal thoughts, all of which may develop into full clinical dis-
orders (Cianconi et al., 2020). Children’s psychological responses
include many of the same symptoms and disorders, as well as
somatic complaints, attachment disorders, and regressive behav-
iors (Burke et al., 2018). Many young people report feelings of
grief, hopelessness, and despair. Rates of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) symptoms among children and youth following
climate-related disasters often are high, although they vary con-
siderably across studies, as well as by child age, gender, type of
disaster, and degree of exposure. For example, 4 months after
floods in Pakistan, 73% of children aged 10–19 years displayed
high levels of PTSD symptoms, with displaced girls more
affected (Ahmad et al., 2011). In contrast, in a study by Yelland
and colleagues (2010) of students who experienced bushfires in
Australia (ages 8–18), only 10% reported severe or very severe
PTSD symptoms 1 year after the fires, while 17% reported mod-
erate symptoms, and most of the remainder reported mild symp-
toms. These investigators found that younger children reported
more symptoms, but no sex differences were found. The design
of these studies may shape their core findings, because the effects
of disaster vary with developmental timing and the severity of
disaster exposure, and also change with the passage of time
(Masten et al., 2015). In addition, there may be cumulative men-
tal health effects for children who experience a sequence of cli-
mate-related disasters, especially if they do not receive adequate
support (Leppold et al., 2022).
Another class of psychological effects from climate change
arises from anticipation of worsening climate impacts (Clayton,
2020). The majority of people worldwide are now concerned
about the future effects of climate change on their lives. A Pew
Research Center (2022) survey of 24,525 adults in 19 nations in
North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region found that
75% saw climate change as a major threat to their nation, and
only 5% did not regard it as a threat. Similar findings emerged
from a recent survey of 10,000 youth, aged 16–25 years, from 10
nations in both the Global North and Global South (Hickman et
al., 2021). Survey results indicated that most youth were experi-
encing levels of climate anxiety high enough to impact their eve-
ryday functioning. Almost 60% of respondents reported feeling
“very” or “extremely” worried about climate change, whereas
only 5% were not worried. In addition, 58% of young people
reported feeling betrayed by their government’s inadequate
responses to the climate crisis, and this sense of betrayal corre-
sponded with their level of climate anxiety. Even more concern-
ing, 56% of the youth believed that humanity is doomed—that
we will not rise to the challenge of climate change and therefore
95
face catastrophe. The term “eco-anxiety” has been coined to
describe these reactions. However, this label ignores the wide
array of reported emotional reactions to climate change besides
anxiety, and can have the connotation that such feelings are
unfounded, when they may more accurately be viewed as
rational, albeit distressing, reactions (Sanson, Malca, Van Hoorn,
& Burke, 2022)—a better label may be “climate distress.”
Building Resilience of Current and
Future Generations to Climate
Threats
Addressing the complex threats posed by climate change to
human development requires attention to the multisystem pro-
cesses that protect individuals in the near term and nurture resil-
ience for the future. Models of resilience and positive development
offer important theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence, and
practical guidance about what can be done to prevent, mitigate,
or counter the risks posed to human development by climate
change, particularly among children and youth (Masten, 2021;
Sanson, Malca, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2022). These models are
informed by research on promotive and protective factors and
related processes that support positive human development, par-
ticularly in the context of adversity and disaster. The nature and
severity of threat exposures, as well as individual, family, and
community vulnerabilities, certainly matter for human adaptation
in the context of climate crises, but so do the resources, protec-
tions, and capabilities at multiple-system levels that can be mobi-
lized on behalf of human survival and development. Decades of
past research on resilience among those who overcome diverse
threats associated with acute and cumulative adversity align well
with the growing body of research specifically focused on
responses in the context of climate-related disasters and multi-
system strategies for risk reduction or resilience enhancement.
Resilience in contemporary research on human development
is broadly defined as the capacity to adapt successfully to adver-
sity, through processes engaging multiple systems within and
around the person (Masten et al., 2021; Ungar & Theron, 2020).
Decades of research on who does well or recovers from adverse
life experiences has uncovered consistent evidence on key fac-
tors associated with better outcomes in the wake of acute and
chronic threats, ranging from child maltreatment to climate-
related disasters. Research on positive development in diverse
contexts around the world has identified strikingly similar pre-
dictors of positive adaptation, often described as “assets” or
“resources” in the individual and the context (e.g., Hawkins et
al., 2009; Lerner et al., 2005; Petersen et al., 2017).
The capacities and resources associated with resilience in
development include individual skills, behaviors, and mind-sets,
such as problem-solving, self-regulation skills, optimism, hope,
self-efficacy, a sense of belonging, and a sense of meaning or
purpose; interpersonal resources and support from relationships
with family members, teachers, friends, and mentors; and
engagement with broader social resources and supports provided
by effective schools, religious and cultural traditions, and safe
communities invested in the well-being of children, youth, and
families. Systematic reviews corroborate many of these widely
observed predictors of positive adaptation in situations of adver-
sity (e.g., Fritz et al., 2018; Meng et al., 2018).
96
Families, schools, and communities provide resources and
protection against adversities in the present while they also pre-
pare for future disasters and nurture resilience for the future of
their citizens. Resilience capacity can be strengthened through
policies at local and societal levels that support the ecological
systems that support children, youth, and families, ranging
from green space or clean water to child care, tax credits, or
health care for families with children, and funding for commu-
nity efforts to improve schools, safety, or opportunities for
youth leadership.
Some of the factors associated with positive development are
generally promotive, regardless of risk or adversity exposure,
while others are particularly important when threat levels are
high, showing a protective or buffering effect akin to vaccines or
airbags in an automobile (Masten et al., 2021). Some resilience
factors work both ways; for example, children with good prob-
lem-solving skills or strong bonds with supportive caregivers
generally fare better in development, but these advantages
become even more significant for functioning or development
when risk or adversity is high.
The empirical literature focused specifically on how children
adapt to climate change, particularly in regard to successful strat-
egies for improving resilience, is limited to date (Sanson, Malca,
Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2022). However, the need for this research
is only growing in urgency as the world braces for more frequent
and intense disasters (Masten, 2021; Sanson, Malca, Van Hoorn,
& Burke, 2022). Emerging evidence suggests that many well-
known assets, such as hope, agency, and belonging, will prove
useful in the context of addressing climate adversity (Sanson,
Malca, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2022). Meaning-focused coping
strategies have been shown to protect psychological well-being
in Swedish youth facing climate change concerns (see Ojala,
2022). Certain activities may also equip youth to face intensify-
ing climate-related challenges, such as spending time in nature
(Thoma et al., 2021) and engaging in environmental activism
(Ojala, 2022). Participating in collective action, such as joining
protests, is linked to a sense of agency or self-efficacy that
appears to counter the fear and helplessness generated by con-
cerns about climate change (Sanson & Bellemo, 2021). Other
protective and promotive factors include trust in scientific organ-
izations, the ability to engage in positive reappraisal, and a sense
of purpose.
Researchers have noted striking parallels in resilience fac-
tors identified across system levels important to human devel-
opment, including families, schools, and communities (Masten
et al., 2021). This observation has led scholars to conclude that
resilience factors reflect adaptive capacities that both support
and emerge from the positive interaction of socio-ecological
systems and the people within them. Theoretically, aligning
resilience processes within and across levels has the potential to
increase the power and reach of interventions to bolster adap-
tive responses to multisystem adversities. For some time,
humanitarian agencies and governments, as well as the World
Bank, have advocated for interventions that combine multiple
sectors and levels of intervention in efforts to promote healthy
development of children globally (e.g., Sayre et al., 2015). It is
challenging, however, to evaluate the efficacy of multisystem
and multisector interventions tailored to situational, individual,
and cultural differences.
International Journal of Behavioral Development 48(2)
Three Major Strategies of
Intervention to Address the Threats
of Climate Change to Human Well-
Being and Development
With challenges posed by climate change already present and
urgent, efforts to reduce disaster risk and promote resilience to
climate change cannot wait for researchers to understand and
evaluate all the possibilities for action. Although it is vital at any
given time in history to advance and verify the effectiveness of
interventions to adversity and improve their implementation,
stakeholders—including families, educators, and policymakers,
as well as humanitarian agencies—are charged with protecting
people in their care from today’s dangers and preparing them to
face future hazards. As a result, evidence-informed resilience
frameworks for intervention have emerged alongside research
frameworks, with the goal of translating the best evidence at
hand to guide practice and programs, even as additional knowl-
edge accumulates about specific threats and the best response
strategies (Masten, 2021).
Three basic approaches to intervention have emerged from
research on resilience in the context of adversity, including major
disasters (Masten, 2021). The first approach, risk reduction, aims
to prevent or lower the intensity and cumulative level of threats
to human survival and development. The second approach is to
boost access to resources associated with positive development.
The third approach is to mobilize powerful adaptive systems that
buffer or protect against harmful effects of adversity and drive
positive adaptation.
Risk reduction, as noted above, is widely recognized as the
most critical strategy in the context of the existential threats
posed by climate change. UNICEF’s (2021) report on the Climate
Change Risk Index makes a powerful case for viewing the cli-
mate crisis as a children’s rights issue due to enormity of the risks
it poses to young people, both those already born and those yet to
be born, and the high vulnerability of children and youth. The
most important form of risk reduction is rapid lowering of green-
house gas emissions on a global level, through strategies directed
at multiple-system levels. If we do not succeed in lowering this
global risk to the earth’s climate, there will be little we can do to
prevent massive suffering for people of all ages, everywhere.
At the same time, there are other strategies to lower risk levels
from climate-related disasters. For example, local communities
can conduct disaster risk analyses and raise public awareness
about potential climate hazards. They may install warning sys-
tems, plan evacuation routes, fortify homes, schools, or hospitals,
and relocate people to less vulnerable locations in advance of
disasters. In these disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts, special
attention needs to be given to children’s well-being, such as train-
ing adults (e.g., caregivers, teachers, and first responders) about
the vulnerabilities and needs of children during crises.
Children and youth can be involved in DRR efforts in many
age-appropriate ways. There is a growing appreciation for the roles
that children can play in DRR, by learning and educating others
about disaster risk reduction as well as through active participation
(Amri et al., 2018; Ronan et al., 2016). Moreover, engaging chil-
dren in DRR efforts may have the dual benefit of lowering actual
levels of risk while building resilience, particularly in regard to a
Sanson and Masten
sense of agency, hopefulness, and self-efficacy, identified in the
literature as key drivers of resilience (the focus of the third strat-
egy). Amri and colleagues (2018) reviewed studies of DRR educa-
tion for children as well as studies of child participation in DRR.
Results of education studies were mixed, although generally posi-
tive in terms of increasing awareness or knowledge. Results of
studies that engaged children in undertaking DRR activities
appeared to be more promising, although their review uncovered
no studies with a control group. Case examples suggested that
when youth are included in global meetings on DRR for climate
change, they exert some influence on the reports and decisions
arising from those meetings. In their report on children and DRR
from the perspective of the agencies comprising the Children in a
Changing Climate coalition, Back and colleagues (2009) high-
lighted the benefits of “child-led” DRR. In addition to influencing
decision makers, they argued that child-led efforts can be cost-
effective, build a sense of youth agency, enhance peer to peer com-
munication and education, and prepare children to be informed and
empowered future citizens. In their review of child-centered DRR,
Ronan and colleagues (2016) reported that both parents and teach-
ers prefer programs that involve interactive problem-solving strat-
egies, likely reflecting the appeal and benefits of active engagement
for all stakeholders in education.
Slowing the course of climate change, of course, requires col-
lective desire to do so. Lawson and colleagues (2019) demon-
strated the potential of intergenerational child-to-parent learning
in an experimental study designed to build climate change con-
cern among parents indirectly through a curriculum for their mid-
dle school–aged children. This 2-year curriculum included
hands-on activities, field-based learning experiences, and chil-
dren interviewing their parents. Parents of children in the treat-
ment group showed a greater increase in climate change concerns
than those in the control group, with changes in parents’ concerns
mediated by those of their children. The changes were largest for
more politically conservative parents and for fathers, who typi-
cally express fewer concerns about climate change. These inves-
tigators also suggested that early adolescence may be a window
of opportunity for increasing climate concern among youth,
before climate attitudes become more politically influenced or
solidified.
The second approach to promoting resilience, boosting assets
and resources, also includes a broad array of strategies. Most
basic among these strategies is the provision of survival needs,
including clean water, food, medical care, and shelter. For young
children and other vulnerable populations, survival needs include
caregivers. Another set of resource-boosting strategies focuses
on economic supports for those in need, such as direct cash trans-
fers or tax benefits. Other efforts can be directed at ensuring
access to quality child care, education, work opportunities, the
tools for learning including internet access, play and recreational
activities, and support for the systems that generally foster oppor-
tunities for all ages to develop their potential. Building or restor-
ing homes, schools, playgrounds, libraries, and community
services are all examples of this approach. The challenges faced
across the world during the pandemic underscored the impor-
tance of providing and restoring resources for adults and children
and the systems that support their development in communities,
as well as supporting the people and businesses who operate
all these systems (Masten & Motti-Stefanidi, 2020; Ringsmuth
et al., 2022).
97
Assets and resources that promote positive adaptation and
development can also be viewed as forms of “capital,” or
resources that can generate additional resources (Emery & Flora,
2006), including human, financial, social, cultural, or natural
resources. The Recovery Capitals Framework (RCF) promoted
by collaborators in the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
provides an evidence-informed planning guide to disaster recov-
ery (Quinn et al., 2022). The framework was developed through
a comprehensive participatory process engaging cross-sectoral
researchers and practitioners, focused on resources in the form of
various kinds of capital and deeply informed by practice and cul-
tural context as well as research evidence. The RCF is highly
congruent with socio-ecological models of human development
(Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) as well as multisystem models
of resilience, and it has been adapted for use in various cultural
contexts, including Indigenous people in Australia and New
Zealand.
The third approach to promoting resilience involves restoring
or mobilizing promotive and protective processes that foster pos-
itive adaptation or recovery in the context of diverse hazards.
These strategies include efforts to restore a sense of safety, secu-
rity, belonging, and hope for the future, as well as efforts to coun-
ter feelings of helplessness and despair that can accompany
experiences or anticipation of disasters, through action and activ-
ities that build collective as well as individual self-efficacy and
agency (Hobfoll et al., 2007). Reuniting families, restoring
homes, and generally connecting displaced people to places and
people where they can belong are well-recognized strategies for
promoting resilience in the aftermath of disasters. Qualitative,
quantitative, and case studies on disaster recovery also note the
general effectiveness of restoring familiar routines, such as
school schedules, family rituals, and traditional cultural prac-
tices, as well as sports or social activities with friends, all of
which can convey a sense of meaning as well as normalcy
(Masten, 2021; Masten et al., 2015).
Programs that are offered in school settings are generally
well-received by children and parents alike, most likely because
the setting itself is a familiar and normal gathering place that is
equipped to use resources from multiple sectors to promote edu-
cation, health, and child protection (Masten et al., 2015;
McCalman & Bainbridge, 2021; Theron, 2021). Along with reli-
gious and civic organizations, schools offer chances to foster the
development of supportive relationships, problem-solving skills,
self-regulation, agency, and a sense of belonging. Save the
Children, for example, developed a “Journey of Hope” program
for building resilience among children after disaster that follows
an in-school recovery model after the emergency phase of
response has passed (https://www.savethechildren.org.au/our-
work/our-programs/australia/journey-of-hope). The school-
based curriculum was designed to foster social and emotional
skills, along with positive problem-solving and coping, and tai-
lored to different age students. This program was implemented
following Hurricane Katrina and successfully adapted for other
disasters, including bushfires in Australia. Another example of
school-based programming following Katrina is the Youth
Leadership Program (Osofsky et al., 2018). This program was
designed to mobilize self-efficacy and school spirit while reduc-
ing trauma symptoms, and it supported student-led efforts to plan
and implement activities to rebuild the community and prepare
for future disasters. Participating students showed gains in
98
self-efficacy compared to their peers. Among all youth, increas-
ing self-efficacy was related to decreasing post-traumatic stress.
DRR education programs can serve to increase children’s
awareness and knowledge (Amri et al., 2018), but didactic pro-
grams are not as effective as their action-based counterparts at
boosting children’s resilience or engagement. Youth benefit the
most from climate change education programs that promote
empowerment and agency with “participatory, interdisciplinary,
creative, and affect-driven approaches” (Rousell & Cutter-
Mackenzie-Knowles, 2020, p. 191). Participatory DRR
approaches can serve to build resilience in children and youth
(Ronan et al., 2016; Sanson, Malca, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2022),
in part because they can develop a sense of agency (Peek et al.,
2018). In Australia, for example, where bushfires are a chronic
and worsening hazard, the government-funded Country Fire
Authority developed a student-led inquiry-based disaster educa-
tion program for students called “Survive and Thrive,” which
was delivered by firefighters in a bushfire-prone region. Results
of a pilot study indicate that children enjoyed the program and
gained a sense of agency along with more knowledge (Gibbs et
al., 2018).
Many emerging programs around the world engage youth as
change agents for climate action, ranging from “green schools”
(e.g., Green Schools National Network in the United States) and
nature-based early childhood education (e.g., Powers & Ridge,
2018; Sobel, 2017) to youth-led activism, such as the Fridays For
Future climate strike movement initiated by Greta Thunberg in
2018. UNICEF (2021) encourages adults to consult directly with
children and young people to elicit their ideas about the world
they will inherit. When adults listen to young people speak about
climate change, they learn new creative solutions, and in turn,
they help the youth to build the agency and capacity they will
need to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Recommendations for Developmental
Scientists
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time and for the
foreseeable future, shaping the lives of children already born and
those to come. With urgent action, we may avoid the most cata-
strophic consequences that could destroy our planet’s basic regu-
latory systems and precipitate the collapse of human civilization.
But even with such action, scientists predict a perilously unstable
climate at least for the rest of this century, with increasing tem-
peratures, rising seas, and extreme weather events. As we have
highlighted in this brief review, the repercussions of these cli-
mate changes for human lives are many and varied, disrupting
human development directly and indirectly through the interplay
of multiple interconnected systems. Given that the central pur-
poses of developmental science focus on advancing our under-
standing of human development and well-being, and translating
this understanding into policy and practice, it is imperative for
developmental scientists to contribute to global efforts to address
this unprecedented threat.
To understand the developmental implications of climate
change, there already is a literature, though far from complete,
that documents the physical and psychosocial impacts of climate
change, which encompass the experience of both sudden disas-
ters and slower-acting changes, and shows the mental health
International Journal of Behavioral Development 48(2)
consequences of climate-related terror and dread. Literature on
poverty and forced migration is also relevant: the World Bank
estimates that up to 132 million people will be pushed into
extreme poverty as a result of climate change by the end of this
decade (Jafino et al., 2020); and the Institute for Economics and
Peace (2022) projects the climate-fueled displacement of over 1
billion people by 2050.
A critical role for developmental scientists is to help prepare
and support current and future generations who will experience
the worst effects of climate change. In doing this, they can draw
guidance from research on resilience in the context of complex
disasters. However, to date, most of this work has been carried
out in the Global North, and there is a pressing need for research
and program development in the Global South where climate
impacts will be most keenly felt. Promising programs from spe-
cific cultures will require careful but rapid adaptation to new cul-
tural contexts and the particular profile of threats posed by
climate change in those regions.
Protecting young people and preparing them for the future
requires proactive, coordinated, multisystem strategies that inte-
grate knowledge from multiple disciplines to nurture the adaptive
capacities of children and the systems that support them. Since
many interacting systems (families, schools, economies, etc.)
shape resilience, and since time is of the essence, it is likely that
many approaches will need to be implemented simultaneously,
guided by the best evidence available when action is required.
Multidisciplinary developmental scientists and practitioners, in
partnership with leaders in nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) and governments, will need to serve as translators and
trainers to implement and adapt interventions. When new evi-
dence emerges about climate-related risks and protective strate-
gies, stakeholders and response teams will need to be informed
rapidly, and the scientific community will need to develop alter-
natives to “dissemination as usual” that deliver critical informa-
tion to communities in acute crisis. Similarly, developmental
scientists must accelerate efforts to document best practices in
cultural and contextual adaptation of resilience programs to facil-
itate rapid tailoring to diverse climate conditions in different
regions, accounting for key differences among individuals, fami-
lies, schools, communities, and cultures.
Peek (2022) has called for a new approach to disaster research
that has implications for climate change research as well. With
funding from the National Science Foundation, Peek and col-
leagues launched the CONVERGE initiative at the University of
Colorado Boulder dedicated to connecting and training disaster
researchers. Through the Natural Hazards Center, CONVERGE
offers training and research funding to academics and diverse
professionals, with a particular focus on supporting disaster-
affected researchers. During COVID-19, this group convened
over 1,000 researchers in working groups to facilitate collabora-
tive responses and research. Interdisciplinary teams of this kind
are essential for advancing research and action on climate change.
We expect that hope, agency, and a shared sense of belonging
are crucial to the effort to engage all generations, and particularly
young people, in positive efforts to both mitigate climate change
and adapt to its impacts. Evidence on child-centered DRR efforts
to date suggests that programs engaging multiple stakeholders
(e.g., children, parents, teachers, community members) in disas-
ter resilience education that is collaborative, active, and problem-
solving in orientation have promising potential to simultaneously
Sanson and Masten 99

Table 1. Major Roles for Developmental Scientists in Addressing the Climate Crisis.

Research
Contribute to theory and evidence on developmental effects of exposure to climate-related disasters and effective interventions to lessen these
impacts
Contribute to knowledge on developmental implications of awareness and related distress about future effects of climate change and effective ways
to encourage adaptive responses to realistic concerns about climate dangers
Join (or create) research networks focused on interdisciplinary efforts to accelerate knowledge and best strategies for mitigating risk and promoting
resilience in children and other groups most vulnerable to climate change
Serve as a developmental consultant to organizations (local to international) focused on disaster risk reduction and climate action, including efforts
by both governmental and non-governmental organizations
Consider the implications of the climate crisis for current research activities (in any area of developmental science) and incorporate these in future
research
Create partnerships between researchers and organizations in the Global South and Global North to ensure that research and theory development
are relevant and applicable to all contexts
Teaching and Training
In teaching, mentoring, and presentations, raise awareness of the impacts of the climate crisis on human development and well-being, as well as the
potential roles of developmental scientists in addressing climate threats
Train future educators, parents, policymakers, and first responders about the developmental impacts of the climate crisis and the importance of
tailoring responses to developmental vulnerabilities and strengths
Create partnerships between educators in the Global South and Global North to develop teaching and training resources that are relevant and
applicable to all contexts
Action
Bring the urgency of the climate crisis to the attention of colleagues, policy makers, and the public using collective communications in multiple media
formats by highly credible scientists and developmental science organizations
Model responsible action to mitigate climate change (as a consumer and as a citizen) in families, workplaces, institutions, and communities
Form and join climate action groups within and across disciplines and communities
Volunteer in school- and community-based education efforts to build awareness of climate threats and strategies for reducing risk and building
resilience for all age groups through multisystem approaches
Advocate for increased funding to accelerate progress on developmentally informed research and interventions to prepare and protect populations,
especially those most vulnerable to harm from climate change

prepare households and communities for relevant climate change
threats, provide a sense of hope to participants, and equip future
generations with resilience-building tools (Amri et al., 2018;
Ronan et al., 2016). Although many knowledge gaps remain, the
climate crisis requires informed action now, even as we continue
to expand evidence on risk and resilience processes in diverse
populations across the globe.
Given the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, efforts to
prepare and protect the next generation need to be transformative.
In their report on the climate crisis as a child rights crisis, UNICEF
(2021) recommended investments that improve access to resilient
water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services; to health and
nutrition services; and to social protection and poverty-reduction
programs. This report also advocated for investing in education on
climate change and sustainability, which can build knowledge and
skills to prepare children and youth for future work in a green
economy; improve sustainability practices to reduce emissions at
the individual, institutional, and community levels; and empower
children, adolescents, and adults to participate in climate mitiga-
tion, adaptation, and climate-resilience activities.
We urge developmental scientists to consider the ways that
they can engage individually and collectively in responding to
the climate crisis, not only as people with skills in teaching,
research, and practice, but also as citizens who can take action.
Table 1 provides examples of major roles that developmental
scholars could play in response to the threats of climate change,
from evaluating resilience-promoting interventions to training
diverse professionals and first responders about the needs of
children and other vulnerable populations during crises. Most
importantly, we must use our knowledge, expertise, and credi-
bility to promote action and advocacy for transformative action
at a global scale.1 In the powerful words of the UN report on
the climate crisis as a child rights issue, “Only with [. . .] truly
transformative action will we bequeath children a liveable
planet” (UNICEF, 2021, p. 9).
Conclusion
Climate change poses unprecedented threats to human life and
development on a global scale. It is a multisystem, cascading
catastrophe in slow motion, punctuated by acute disasters such as
wildfires and extreme weather events, threatening all the systems
that support healthy development. Moreover, the burden of risk
falls with profound inequity on young people, historically mar-
ginalized groups, lower income countries, and individuals with
existing vulnerabilities. There is an urgent need to accelerate our
efforts to reduce risk and bolster resilience at multiple-system
levels. Developmental scientists have crucial roles to play: (1)
sounding the alarm about threats of climate change to human
development; (2) disseminating existing research-based knowl-
edge about risk and protective processes in the context of a
changing climate; (3) contributing to future research essential to
advancing knowledge and its applications with respect to what
works for whom in diverse contexts and systems; (4) engaging
and supporting youth to join and lead response efforts commen-
surate with their stake in the future; and (5) collaborating with
other scientists and practitioners to accelerate our collective
response to this existential threat.
100
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Ann V. Sanson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4910-3310
Note
1. To support such work, the authors and others have formed
“Developmental Scientists for Climate Action.” Please go
to the website (https://www.devsca.org) or contact us if you
are interested in joining this endeavor.
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