Tang Wymann Shao Wen, Ho Cyrus Su Hui
Department of General & Community Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2025 Oct;60(10):2275-2287. doi: 10.1007/s00127-025-02936-x. Epub 2025 Jun 5.
This systematic review aims to examine how climate change and its related stressors may affect the mental health of workers in industries vulnerable to climate change. The review also seeks to evaluate coping strategies used by affected workers, as well as potential interventions to mitigate and prevent these mental health effects.
A literature search was conducted in June 2024 in databases such as PUBMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Web of Science, using a combination of keywords about climate change, mental health or illness, and vulnerable industries.
A predominance of accessed literature was related to the agricultural industry, with a minority pertaining to the aquaculture, construction and aviation industries. They suggest an increased vulnerability of workers to mental health-related problems, including increased depression, anxiety, psychological distress and suicidality in response to stressors such as increased temperatures and prolonged drought conditions. Besides socioeconomic effects resulting from reduced productivity, climate-related stressors may contribute to increased uncertainty, isolation, a perceived lack of control, and challenges to their sense of identity. Coping methods varied and influenced outcomes of mental wellbeing, with community wellbeing and social connectedness in the agricultural setting being observed to have beneficial effects on levels of psychological distress. Interventions that promoted mental health literacy, the availability of mental health first aid, social cohesion, and adaptability to climate stressors were deemed helpful.
Environmental stressors interact with mental health in an intricate manner, exerting influence on biological and socioeconomic aspects of a person's well-being. In an occupational setting, such stressors may also affect social cohesion and one's personal sense of identity or self-esteem. Building strong social networks and structures to enable self-efficacy and adaptability towards climate change may be key towards promoting mental health resilience amongst workers in vulnerable industries.
本系统综述旨在探讨气候变化及其相关压力源如何影响易受气候变化影响行业的工人心理健康。该综述还旨在评估受影响工人所采用的应对策略，以及减轻和预防这些心理健康影响的潜在干预措施。
2024年6月在诸如PUBMED、EMBASE、PsycINFO和Web of Science等数据库中进行了文献检索，使用了关于气候变化、心理健康或疾病以及脆弱行业的关键词组合。
所查阅的文献主要与农业行业相关，少数与水产养殖、建筑和航空行业有关。这些文献表明，工人更容易出现与心理健康相关的问题，包括因气温升高和长期干旱等压力源而导致的抑郁、焦虑、心理困扰和自杀倾向增加。除了生产力下降带来的社会经济影响外，与气候相关的压力源可能会导致不确定性增加、孤立感、缺乏控制感以及对其身份认同感的挑战。应对方法各不相同，并影响心理健康结果，观察发现农业环境中的社区福祉和社会联系对心理困扰程度有有益影响。促进心理健康素养、提供心理健康急救、增强社会凝聚力以及适应气候压力源的干预措施被认为是有帮助的。
环境压力源以复杂的方式与心理健康相互作用，对一个人的幸福的生物和社会经济方面产生影响。在职业环境中，这些压力源也可能影响社会凝聚力以及个人的身份认同感或自尊感。建立强大的社会网络和结构，以增强自我效能感和对气候变化的适应能力，可能是促进脆弱行业工人心理健康恢复力的关键。
