The Connection between Mental Health and Climate Change in Maryland’s Youth Population

Abstract

Climate change and mental health are two relevant topics in modern society. Climate change affects a variety of constituents both physically and mentally. The correlation between climate change and mental health, specifically for young people, must be examined more closely. There is currently minimal research to establish whether climate change impacts youth mental health in Maryland. What has been established is that climate change is anxiety-inducing. It can cause people to worry about the future and engender feelings of hopelessness. To expand, “People who are experiencing anxiety about climate change (or eco-anxiety) will feel genuine distress that can limit their daily activities and lead to serious depressive and anxious symptoms” (Léger-Goodes, et al. 2022). The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would like to better understand this correlation, and understand connections between young people, climate change, and mental health in Maryland. This capstone project aims to design surveys that apply extensive research about survey methodology and survey question design. This project also offers implementation recommendations if DNR chooses to pursue these surveys. To provide more context, this paper and the surveys focus specifically on the Baltimore area, which experiences natural disaster flooding at much higher rates compared to other locations in Maryland. There are different types of stress-causing natural disasters; this report looks at flooding because it’s common in Maryland areas that border a body of water. Many of our student peers have experienced increased levels of flooding in their towns. Increased flooding levels can cause stress for youth and create long-lasting trauma in their lives. Further, by 2045 Baltimore is projected to face more than a 10-fold increase in the number of tidal floods each year, because of sea level rise alone (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2016).