Exploring children's despair in the face of climate change

Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise; David Lefrançois; Marc-André Éthier; Jonathan Smith; Terra Léger-Goodes; Catherine M Herba

doi:10.1038/s44271-024-00130-4

Exploring children's despair in the face of climate change

Commun Psychol. 2024 Aug 22:2:78. doi: 10.1038/s44271-024-00130-4. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise^{1

2}, David Lefrançois^{3

4}, Marc-André Éthier^{4

5}, Jonathan Smith^{2

6}, Terra Léger-Goodes⁷, Catherine M Herba^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Bishop's University, Department of Psychology, Sherbrooke, QC Canada.
² CHUS Research Center, Sherbrooke, QC Canada.
³ Université du Québec en Outaouais, Department of Education, Saint-Jérôme, QC Canada.
⁴ Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la formation et la profession enseignante, Montréal, QC Canada.
⁵ Université de Montréal, Department of Didactics, Montréal, QC Canada.
⁶ Université de Sherbrooke, Department of Preschool and Primary Education, Sherbrooke, QC Canada.
⁷ Université du Québec à Montréal, Department of Psychology, Montréal, QC Canada.
⁸ CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Center, Montréal, QC Canada.

Abstract

Interventions targeting children's eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children's need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children.

Keywords: Education; Human behaviour.