Young people are increasingly engaging with climate change issues through social media. Unfortunately, social media can have emotional consequences, exposing youth to a higher volume of information about the climate crisis without strategies for managing distress, and recent increases in racial discrimination via social media place Black, Indigenous, Youth of color at greater risk for mental health difficulties.

McKenna Parnes, PhD, a fellow in the Primary Care Psychiatry/Behavioral Health Integration Fellowship, received an award from the UW Population Health Initiative to conduct focus groups with young people to understand their lived experiences of engaging with the climate crisis on social media. Along with co-Investigator Jennifer Atkinson (Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell), they will ask questions about the challenges, benefits, and mental health impacts of engaging with climate change content on social media. Read more