Climate Change, Families, and Human Development: Review of the Evidence

Climate change comprises acute shocks and protracted hazards that threaten societies, communities, and families worldwide. Still, little work has investigated the potential impacts of climate change on families, including the health and development of individual family members and the functioning of the family system. To synthesize what is known, we report findings from rapid reviews of the literature on climate change and families. We found extensive evidence on links between climate change and adverse physical (e.g. morbidity and mortality) and mental health (e.g. PTSD, depression, and anxiety) outcomes, and emerging evidence on associations with child developmental outcomes (including cognitive, social, and emotional skills). Furthermore, we found nascent evidence that climate change may be associated with outcomes for the family system as a whole, including increasing risk for early marriages, fertility decisions, migration, and negative effects on relationships and parenting practices. We also identified substantial gaps in the literature, including limited conceptual and measurement work, scarce qualitative studies, and issues related to the internal and external validity of prior quantitative work. Collectively, these findings can inform future research, policy, and practice aimed at understanding and addressing the consequences of climate change for families and promoting positive developmental trajectories in this context.

Duke Scholars

Author Jennifer Lansford Sanford School of Public Policy