Rising Global Heat Linked To Mental Health Risks In Children

MONDAY, Aug. 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Climate-driven heat waves are harming children’s mental health, and it’s only going to get worse as it gets hotter, a new evidence review says.

For every 1-degree Celsius increase in daily temperature, there’s an almost 1% increase in children suffering from mental health issues, researchers recently reported in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors are among the problems that become more likely as temperatures rise, researchers said. Children also are more likely to require an emergency room visit due to their mental health.

“Children and young people are especially vulnerable because of their physiological and behavioral susceptibility to heat, because they’re still developing and have a lower likelihood of adopting protective behaviors during extreme heat events,” said researcher Corey Bradshaw, a professor of global ecology at Flinders University in Australia.

“Our review also found that risks were higher in developed countries, potentially reflecting the effects of urban heat islands as well as greater support seeking to combat the impact on young people’s mental health,” he said in a news release.

For the review, researchers drew on data from 23 studies examining the relationship between temperature and mental health.

Results showed that children 5 to 18 years old are the most vulnerable to heat-related mental distress.

Their risk of mental health problems increases by 25% during heatwaves, researchers found.

“There’s a range of reasons why children are more susceptible to changes in climate that are linked to social and developmental stressors, including disruptions to outdoor activities, their education and recreational opportunities,” researcher Jacqueline Stephens said in a news release. She’s an associate professor of epidemiology at Flinders University.

“The impacts can include sleep disruption during hot nights, which can affect well-being and emotional regulation, as well as indirect effects to parents’ mental health, caregiving stress and family conflict, all of which increase during heatwaves and extreme weather events that are becoming more common,” Stephens said.

Teenagers in particular struggle in the heat, researchers said.

“Adolescence is also a sensitive period for mental health development, which can increase susceptibility to extreme heat,” Stephens said. “Higher temperatures have also been associated with poorer learning and academic performance in children.”

These results show the need to take children’s mental health into account as well as their physical health when temperatures soar, researchers said.

“An important next step is to better understand where and how children are exposed to heat in their everyday environments and develop practical, child-focused responses,” said senior researcher Syeda Hira Fatima, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Canberra in Australia.

“This could include adaptations such as cooler classrooms, better ventilation and shaded outdoor spaces, alongside research to determine whether these measures translate into meaningful improvements in children’s mental health and well-being,” Fatima said in a news release.

More information

UNICEF has more on how heat waves impact children.

SOURCE: Flinders University, news release, Aug. 5, 2026