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. 2022 Mar 2;19(5):2896.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19052896.

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

Isobel Sharpe  1 , Colleen M Davison  1
Affiliations

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

Isobel Sharpe et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

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.

Keywords: LMICs; children; climate change; climate-related disasters; low and middle income; mental disorders; mental health; scoping review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA diagram showing the study inclusion process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
World map showing the 12 unique climate change exposures captured by the included studies (dark blue countries). The climate change events took place in China (n = 4), India (n = 3), Philippines (n = 2), Pakistan (n = 1), Namibia (n = 1), and Dominica (n = 1). The remaining low- and middle-income countries are colored light blue and high-income countries are colored grey.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Included studies (n = 23) by year and country.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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