Scoping review of climate change and mental health in Germany – Direct and indirect impacts, vulnerable groups, resilience factors

Background: Climate change is a major threat to human health and has direct and indirect impacts on the human psyche. Methods: To assess the state of knowledge on the impact of climate change on mental health in Germany, a scoping review was conducted for the focus topics extreme weather events, temperature increase, intra-psychological processing, sociological aspects and resilience factors. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria of the searches in the databases Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PubPsych, PubMed, and PsychInfo. The majority of the studies looked at correlative relationships in a cross-sectional design. Results: There are indications of an accumulation of psychiatric disorders after extreme weather events; in addition, the risk of suicide increases with higher temperatures and it appears there is an increase in aggressive behaviour. The majority of people surveyed in Germany report concerns about the consequences of climate change, although these currently rarely lead to clinically significant impairments in mental health. Conclusions: Overall, the evidence for Germany must be classified as insufficient. In addition to the absolute priority of climate protection (mitigation) by reducing emissions, there is a particular need for additional research with a focus on vulnerable groups and possibilities for prevention and adaptation. This is part of a series of articles that constitute the German Status Report on Climate Change and Health 2023

Scoping review of climate change and mental health in Germany – Direct and indirect impacts, vulnerable groups, resilience factors

Background: Climate change is a major threat to human health and has direct and indirect impacts on the human psyche. Methods: To assess the state of knowledge on the impact of climate change on mental health in Germany, a scoping review was conducted for the focus topics extreme weather events, temperature increase, intra-psychological processing, sociological aspects, and resilience factors. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria of the searches in the databases Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PubPsych, PubMed, and PsychInfo. The majority of the studies looked at correlative relationships in a cross-sectional design. Results: There are indications of an accumulation of psychiatric disorders after extreme weather events; in addition, the risk of suicide increases with higher temperatures and it appears there is an increase in aggressive behaviour. The majority of people surveyed in Germany report concerns about the consequences of climate change, although these currently rarely lead to clinically significant impairments in mental health. Conclusions: Overall, the evidence for Germany must be classified as insufficient. In addition to the absolute priority of climate protection (mitigation) by reducing emissions, there is a particular need for additional research with a focus on vulnerable groups and possibilities for prevention and adaptation

Scoping Review zu Klimawandel und psychischer Gesundheit in Deutschland – Direkte und indirekte Auswirkungen, vulnerable Gruppen, Resilienzfaktoren

Hintergrund: Der Klimawandel ist eine zentrale Bedrohung für die menschliche Gesundheit und wirkt sich direkt und indirekt auf die menschliche Psyche aus. Methode: Um den Kenntnisstand zu den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die psychische Gesundheit in Deutschland zu erfassen, wurde ein Scoping Review für die Schwerpunktthemen Extremwetterereignisse, Temperaturerhöhung, innerpsychische Verarbeitung, soziologische Aspekte und Resilienzfaktoren durchgeführt. Zehn Studien entsprachen den Einschlusskriterien der Suchanfragen in den Datenbanken Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PubPsych, PubMed und PsychInfo. Die Mehrzahl der Studien betrachtete korrelative Zusammenhänge im Querschnittsdesign. Ergebnisse: Es zeigen sich Hinweise auf eine Häufung an psychischen Störungen nach Extremwetterereignissen, zudem steigt bei höheren Temperaturen das Suizidrisiko und es zeigt sich ein vermehrt aggressives Verhalten. Die Mehrzahl von in Deutschland befragten Personen berichtet über Sorgen bezüglich der Folgen des Klimawandels, wenngleich diese aktuell jedoch nur selten zu einer klinisch bedeutsamen psychischen Belastung führen. Schlussfolgerungen: Insgesamt ist die Evidenz für Deutschland als unzureichend einzustufen. Neben der absoluten Priorität des Klimaschutzes (Mitigation) durch Reduzierung der Emissionen bedarf es insbesondere zusätzlicher Forschung mit einem Fokus auf vulnerable Gruppen und Möglichkeiten der Prävention und Anpassung (Adaptation). Dieser Artikel ist Teil der Beitragsreihe zum Sachstandsbericht Klimawandel und Gesundheit 2023