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Exhibition at oppressive and often deadly heat waves was linked to an increased risk of depression and anxiety in adolescents.
Chinese researchers have found that young men and rural students in the Eastern Asian country can be the most sensitive, which suggests that targeted response strategies should be implemented.
“Our results underline the need to develop public health strategies to protect The undesirable effects of extreme heat“Wrote the authors in a research article recently published in the Journal of emotional disorders.
The study authors were able to estimate exposure to heat waves by examining health data of nearly 20,000 adolescents aged 10 to 18. The data was collected from a national health survey in the school environment conducted in 2021. Of these, more than half of the teenagers were female and the majority were students of the Junior High School, aged around 15 years.
Measured using a questionnaire and a scale, 19.37% and 16.27% of adolescents declared depression and anxiety respectively.
Student exposure to heat has been evaluated using three heat waves measurements: excess heat, maximum temperature and minimum temperature.
They found that there is chances of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems for each unit increases the magnitude of the heat wave. Although, when using different definitions of heat waves, the results were not as consistent.
The study occurs while heat waves become more frequent and intense due to the effect of climate change caused by humans. THE dangerous heat on the east coast of the United States this week has been made between three and five times more likely to climate change, according to the non -profit organization Central climate. Heat alerts were also issued to Beijing this week, the Official English language website of China News Service reported.
Research published earlier this year revealed that the number of people suffering mental health crisis is drowned in the areas most affected by climate change. The authors said that young people in southern Madagascar reported extremely high levels of anxiety and depression. In a separate report, the authors said that the stress of climate change Responsible for anxiety symptoms.
The effects of heat on mental health have also been established, with Hot weather disturbing hormones and sleep and resulting in Changes in mood and behavior.
Last summer, The American Psychological Association Used that changes in policy and infrastructure have been implemented to protect mental health from the impact of high temperatures.
“The way we are heading right now, things will only get worse,” said Dr. Kim Meidenbauer, deputy professor of psychology at the Washington State University. “If we do not even understand the scope of the effect that heat has on us, it augurs badly for our ability to protect people from negative psychological consequences.”
Yizhen Yu, co-author of the new study and professor at Tongji Medical College of the University of Sciences and Technologies of Huazhong, said Psypost That their conclusions highlight the importance of recognizing young people’s well -being during extreme climatic events – and the need for decision -makers and others to pay attention.
“Decision -makers must integrate thermal resilience in public health strategies – for example, by revising school safety protocols during heat waves. In the end, a significant collaboration between the health, education and environmental sectors is essential to protect and promote the mental health of young people in the face of climate challenges, “he said.
