# Youth climate activism on social media: Building psychosocial resilience among minority youth

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $1

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Climate change is a global crisis and an issue of intergenerational injustice, placing disproportionate and unjust
harm on young people and future generations. Consequentially, young people are experiencing significant
climate-related psychological distress. Climate change also exacerbates existing inequalities, resulting in
worse mental health burden on youth who face greater social and environmental vulnerabilities (e.g.,
socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, Black, Indigenous, Youth of color [BIYOC]). 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. Moreover, recent increases in racial discrimination via social media place
BIYOC at greater risk for mental health difficulties when engaging with climate activism in online spaces. The
current study will explore how minority youth experiences with climate activism via social media confer youth
risk and resilience for psychopathology and impact equity-focused climate action to inform prevention efforts
that reduce climate-related mental health consequences and race-based health disparities. In Aim 1, will use
social network analysis and content analysis to elucidate network properties and content of influential climate
activism social media accounts to inform strategies that may enhance the reach and uptake of messages
centering climate-racial justice advocacy and minority mental health promotion. Aim 2 will draw on youth
participatory action methods using ethnographic tools to explore minority youth perceptions of how engaging
with climate activism on social media impacts mental health and behaviors. In Aim 3, we will retain a subset of
youth from Aim 2 and recruit adult environmental health specialists to co-design a minority-focused climate
resilience social media campaign, informed by theory and findings from Aims 1 and 2 on resilience building,
minority-focused climate communication strategies. We will collect pilot data regarding minority youth
perceptions of campaign feasibility and acceptability, as well as youth and adult perceptions of the partnership
process. Successful completion of these aims will contribute to the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative
Strategic Framework to understand the effects of climate change-induced stress on youth development and
NIMHD Priority Research Areas to reduce the effects of climate change among populations who experience
health disparities looking at multiple domains (i.e., behavioral, sociocultural) and multiple levels (i.e., individual,
interpersonal) of influence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10947351
- **Project number:** 1K01MD019730-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** McKenna Parnes
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2024-08-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10947351

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10947351, Youth climate activism on social media: Building psychosocial resilience among minority youth (1K01MD019730-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10947351. Licensed CC0.

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