About this Research Topic
We are now at a turning point in the 21st century. Scientists have become increasingly concerned about how climate change will affect our health and well-being, ecosystems and biodiversity, and overall services, systems, and economy within the coming decades. The impact and relevance of climate change for pediatric populations are critical. It is crucial to understand how exposure to the climate crisis (e.g., environmental pollution, climate disasters) impacts the developing psychobiology of pregnant women, fetuses, infants, and children. These data hold the potential to inform predictive models of preventive and therapeutic actions on a global and individual level. To this aim, health informatics can be useful in investigating children's health aspects of climate change. Indeed, thanks to advanced health informatics systems, it is possible to collect and analyze large volumes of data from diverse sources related to children's health and environmental exposures.
Furthermore, we need to investigate the role of health professionals in addressing climate change to protect children from psychological long-term effects by investing in mitigation and adaptation strategies. Again, the impact of climate change on family daily life has to be fully explored. Finally, educational programs to build the next generation of environmentally-sensitive children and adults are needed and their efficacy has to be assessed and demonstrated. These are non-exhaustive examples of how important it is that developmental scientists engage in research on climate change challenges in pediatric psychology. Open Access science has made it its mission to make sure that each individual puzzle piece to understanding climate change impacts has a sustainable solution to prevent adverse effects for life on Earth.
‘The Climate Change Challenge’ is an annual series aimed at showcasing the recent advancements in each individual field of scientific and humanities research. We are looking for research that highlights solutions/mitigations/adaptations, challenges, obstacles, and communal decisions that have been made to tackle the urgent health challenges facing everyone and to work towards a more sustainable future for the next generation.
Specifically for the Pediatric Psychology section, the Topic Editors welcome themes such as:
• The psychological effects of climate change on children (either global or for a specific region or country)
• The role of the mental health system and capacity to respond to pediatric climate change-related mental health impacts during extreme weather events
• Investigating the role of health professionals in addressing climate change to protect children from psychological effects (from mitigation and adaptation/advocacy perspectives)
• Extreme weather and climate events and their direct and indirect effects on children
• Prevention, preparedness, and education - roles of key sectors/people in the life cycle of a child
• Impact of exposure to climate disasters on children’s mental health at different life stages
• Efficacy of adaptation strategies to extreme weather and climate events in protecting children’s mental health
• Promotion of climate-sensitive behavior with children in different settings (e.g., family, school)
• Biomarkers and outcomes of exposure to environmental pollution during pregnancy and postnatal life
• Digital health technologies useful to detect and measure climate change's effects on children’s health (e.g., wearables sensors, environmental sensors, artificial intelligence, telehealth)
Furthermore, we need to investigate the role of health professionals in addressing climate change to protect children from psychological long-term effects by investing in mitigation and adaptation strategies. Again, the impact of climate change on family daily life has to be fully explored. Finally, educational programs to build the next generation of environmentally-sensitive children and adults are needed and their efficacy has to be assessed and demonstrated. These are non-exhaustive examples of how important it is that developmental scientists engage in research on climate change challenges in pediatric psychology. Open Access science has made it its mission to make sure that each individual puzzle piece to understanding climate change impacts has a sustainable solution to prevent adverse effects for life on Earth.
‘The Climate Change Challenge’ is an annual series aimed at showcasing the recent advancements in each individual field of scientific and humanities research. We are looking for research that highlights solutions/mitigations/adaptations, challenges, obstacles, and communal decisions that have been made to tackle the urgent health challenges facing everyone and to work towards a more sustainable future for the next generation.
Specifically for the Pediatric Psychology section, the Topic Editors welcome themes such as:
• The psychological effects of climate change on children (either global or for a specific region or country)
• The role of the mental health system and capacity to respond to pediatric climate change-related mental health impacts during extreme weather events
• Investigating the role of health professionals in addressing climate change to protect children from psychological effects (from mitigation and adaptation/advocacy perspectives)
• Extreme weather and climate events and their direct and indirect effects on children
• Prevention, preparedness, and education - roles of key sectors/people in the life cycle of a child
• Impact of exposure to climate disasters on children’s mental health at different life stages
• Efficacy of adaptation strategies to extreme weather and climate events in protecting children’s mental health
• Promotion of climate-sensitive behavior with children in different settings (e.g., family, school)
• Biomarkers and outcomes of exposure to environmental pollution during pregnancy and postnatal life
• Digital health technologies useful to detect and measure climate change's effects on children’s health (e.g., wearables sensors, environmental sensors, artificial intelligence, telehealth)
Keywords: climate change, mental health, children, children's mental health, #collectionseries
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
