DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.192674.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

Linking climate change to self-harm: A global study of over 200 countries from 1990 to 2020

Duan Ni, Ian B. Hickie, Mark Howden, Ralph Nanan
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Climate change is increasingly recognized as a major threat to both environmental and human health; however, a comprehensive global assessment of its impact on mental health and self-harming behaviours remains lacking, particularly with respect to demographic and socioeconomic modifiers and their potential interactions. Global data for self-harm incidence and key climate-related parameters, such as greenhouse gas emissions, temperature changes, and exposure to particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), a major climate-linked pollutant, were curated, covering approximately 200 countries between 1990 and 2020. They were analyzed with a generalized additive model framework to decipher the potential links between self-harm incidence and climate-related metrics, with adjustments of various confounders including socioeconomic status, age and sex. Across multiple analyses, self-harm incidence was consistently associated with key climate-related parameters. Stratified analyses revealed age- and sex-specific heterogeneity: in early life, associations between climate variables and self-harm were more pronounced in males, whereas in later life stronger associations were observed in females. These findings provide global-scale evidence linking climate change to adverse mental health outcomes, highlighting important demographic differences. Our results have implications for the development of targeted, population-level mental health interventions and inform policy responses at the intersection of climate and public health.

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