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The Connection Between Extreme Heat and the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

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August 01, 2025

As the planet warms due to accelerated climate change, extreme heat events – ranging from prolonged heatwaves to record-breaking temperatures – are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. While the physical health impacts of exceedingly high temperatures on both children and adults are well-documented, researchers are steadily revealing a less visible but equally concerning consequence: the toll of extreme heat on children's mental health. There is a growing body of evidence connecting extreme heat to the well-being, or lack thereof, of children and adolescents, examining the psychological, cognitive, behavioral, and social mechanisms involved.

Children are physiologically and developmentally more vulnerable to environmental stressors than adults. Their bodies heat up faster, their ability to regulate internal temperature is less effective, and they are less able to communicate distress and care for themselves in dangerous environments.1 These factors make children especially susceptible to the physical impacts of extreme heat, including dehydration and heat-related illnesses, but they also magnify the psychological consequences.

Studies and major health organizations report that hot weather is associated with dramatic increases in anxiety, depression, and other psychological distress among children and adolescents.2 During heatwaves, cases of emergency mental health visits for children jump significantly, with pronounced spikes due to mood disorders and suicide attempts.3 In many cases, heat can lead to irritability, poor emotional regulation, and increased risk of meltdowns or outbursts.4

High temperatures have also been shown to impair cognitive performance. Research has borne out that children exposed to extreme heat perform worse on tests measuring memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities.5 One particular study showed that even short-term exposure to high temperatures lowered math scores on standard tests.6 There are also documented increases in externalizing behaviors, such as aggression and conduct problems, especially among younger children.7 Chronic exposure to high temperatures can exacerbate pre-existing learning difficulties and complicate developmental trajectories.8

Sleep quality is crucial for children’s mental health, behavior, and academic performance. Hot nights, especially when homes lack air conditioning, disrupt sleep patterns, leaving children fatigued, less able to concentrate, and more prone to mood disturbances the following day.9 Inadequate sleep can hinder the prefrontal cortex’s ability to consolidate memories, maintain focus, and carry out effective problem-solving and decision-making.10 Over time, sleep deprivation can lead to chronic stress, increased risk of depression, and other mental health concerns.

Extreme heat discourages outdoor play, which is fundamental for a child’s physical and psychological development. When it’s unsafe to go outside, children miss crucial opportunities for exercise, social interaction, and stress reduction. In some areas, recurring heatwaves have been linked to increased isolation, loneliness, and inactivity, heightening risks for anxiety and depression.11

Several physiological pathways explain why extreme heat is so disruptive to developing minds:

  • Thermoregulation and Brain Chemistry
    • Children’s less efficient thermoregulation can disrupt neurotransmitter systems – like serotonin and dopamine – which are vital for mood regulation, impulse control, and cognitive function.12
    • Elevated serotonin levels during hot spells can overwhelm regulatory brain regions, leading to mood swings, irritability, and impaired executive functioning.
  • Inflammatory Response
    • Persistent heat exposure triggers inflammatory processes in the body, which can influence brain health and emotional regulation.13
  • Interaction with Medications
    • Children taking psychiatric medications (like antipsychotics) are at particular risk, as these drugs can reduce sweating and impact the hypothalamus, the brain’s thermostat.14

Extreme heat stacks onto other stressors – such as economic hardship, displacement, food insecurity, and community disruptions – intensifying the overall burden on children. Households already struggling with poverty often lack access to air conditioning and safe green spaces, exacerbating climate vulnerability. This cumulative stress impacts both children and parents, reducing parental capacity and emotional availability, factors intimately linked to children's mental health.15

Therefore, the mental health burden of extreme heat is not equally shared. Children in low-income, marginalized, and historically redlined neighborhoods face the highest risks. In urban neighborhoods this is called the “urban heat island effect” – whereby a densely built-up area with mostly pavement and buildings traps heat. These areas consistently record hotter temperatures due to lack of green space, poor housing insulation, and environmental neglect. Children from these backgrounds report the greatest declines in cognitive function and the largest spikes in psychological distress during heat events.16

There are additional factors that must be considered as the connection between extreme heat and children’s and adolescent’s mental health is studied. A major study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that more severe heatwaves were associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents, with the association being especially strong in rural students and boys.17 Children in rural versus urban areas face different stressors, as access to reliable air conditioning, cooling centers, and mental health services is limited.18 Black, Indigenous, and children of color are disproportionately impacted due to both environmental and socioeconomic inequities.19

Early and repeated exposure to heat-related stress can have repercussions throughout a child's life. Chronic stress in formative years impairs mental resilience, raises the risk of lifelong anxiety and depression, and can even alter trajectories for academic achievement and social well-being.20 Post-traumatic stress, learned helplessness, and climate anxiety – the persistent worry about environmental disasters – are becoming more common among today’s youth, driven in part by direct and indirect exposure to climate-related heat events.21

Increasing global temperatures and more frequent, intense heatwaves make this issue urgent. Projections suggest that – unless greenhouse emissions are curbed – children today will experience many more days of dangerous heat than previous generations, making mental health and climate adaptation inseparable public health priorities.22

To ameliorate the effects that extreme heat can have on the mental health of children and adolescents, experts recommend a multipronged approach:

  • Mental Health Support
    • Training clinicians, educators, and families to recognize and respond to heat-related mental health symptoms.
    • Schools and community organizations must prioritize psychosocial support, especially during heatwaves.
  • Parental Guidance and Education
    • Parents should monitor their children’s mood, behaviors, and sleep during heatwaves, keep homes cool, and encourage safe indoor activities.
  • Policy and Urban Planning
    • Expanding access to cooling centers, green spaces, and climate-resilient infrastructure in vulnerable neighborhoods.
  • Research and Prevention
    • Ongoing research is needed to untangle the complex climate-mental health link and develop targeted interventions for at-risk children and families.

The mounting relationship between extreme heat and children's mental health is a pressing, multi-dimensional challenge. Its effects stretch from the biological to the behavioral, from the individual child to entire communities. As the climate crisis advances, addressing these impacts will require coordinated efforts across health, education, and urban systems – prioritizing children’s mental health as a core component of climate resilience.

By acting now to strengthen our understanding and bolster support systems, we can help ensure that today’s children – those most vulnerable to our changing climate – grow up healthy, resilient, and hopeful for their future.

References:

  1. Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
  2.  Hu J, Hu W, Xu Z, Peng C, Cheng J, Rong F, Wang Y, Zhang N, Guan M, Yu Y. Associations of exposure to heatwaves with depression and anxiety among adolescents: A cross-sectional study of the Chinese adolescent health survey. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2025 Oct 15; 387:119499. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119499
  3. Mother Jones – Extreme Temperatures and Children’s Mental Health 
  4. Institute of Child Psychology – Heat Waves and Children’s Mental Health 
  5. Assari S, Zare H. Extreme Heat Exposure and Adolescent Cognitive Function. Open Journal of Neuroscience. 2025;3(1):1247. doi: 10.31586/ojn.2025.1247
  6. Yale Climate Connections – A Girl’s Grades Drop Every Summer
  7. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – Extreme Heat and Youth Mental Health 
  8. Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
  9. Inside Climate News – Extreme Temperatures Linked to Children’s Mental Health
  10. Yale Climate Connections – A Girl’s Grades Drop Every Summer 
  11. Institute of Child Psychology – Heat Waves and Children’s Mental Health 
  12. Mother Jones – extreme-temperatures-children-mental-health-studies-climate-change
  13. American Psychological Association – Extreme Heat in a Warming Climate 
  14. Assari S, Zare H. Extreme Heat Exposure and Adolescent Cognitive Function. Open Journal of Neuroscience. 2025;3(1):1247. doi: 10.31586/ojn.2025.1247 
  15. Jie Hu, Wei Hu, Zixuan Xu, Chang Peng, Junhan Cheng, Fajuan Rong, Yan Wang, Nan Zhang, Meiqi Guan, Yizhen Yu, Associations of exposure to heatwaves with depression and anxiety among adolescents: A cross-sectional study of the Chinese adolescent health survey, Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 387, 2025, 119499, ISSN 0165-0327, doi:
  16. PsyPost – Heatwaves Linked to Depression and Anxiety in Adolescents
  17. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – Extreme Heat and Youth Mental Health 
  18.  Inside Climate News – Extreme Temperatures Linked to Children’s Mental Health 
  19.  Think Global Health – Climate Change’s Hidden Mental Toll on Children
  20. Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes

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