Kids with weather anxiety aren’t doomed. They just need their parents’ roadmap

Children, teens and young adults are bearing the mental and emotional brunt of extreme weather.

That's according to a new review of more than 50 studies involving children as young as 6 years old.

Weather-related worry and fear are widespread among younger generations, research shows, and the stats become even starker when compared with their older counterparts.

What that tells us: Even as everyone in a community is experiencing the same storm, internally there may be entirely different storms brewing.

Age and experience play a major role in this, says board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Katrina Furey.

The same storm can feel different

For the youngest children, fear is often tied to experiencing extreme weather firsthand.

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Children under 10, Furey says, are more likely to be frightened by the sights and sounds of a storm: the crack of thunder, howling wind, pounding rain or rising floodwater.

(MORE: Sesame Street helps kids cope with storms)

This is where older generations have the benefit of experience. 

“Knowing that you have lived through something extreme and come out safely on the other side is a huge roadmap that you can fall back on the next time something scary comes up,” Furey says.

Instead of being frightened by the immediate danger, adolescents and young adults are often worried more about what extreme weather could mean for their future.

“I hear about a lot of existential worry and anxiety, specifically from adolescents and young adults when it comes to climate change,” explains Furey. “They might feel a little bit helpless in terms of what sort of steps do I take to make a difference or to stop this in its tracks.”

Gen Z and millennials are significantly more “alarmed or concerned” about climate change and more likely to feel it's “too late to stop,” compared with those 55 and older, according to a recent Ipsos survey.

(MORE: When the storm passes, but fear remains)

How families can weather the worry

So how can families meet somewhere in the middle?

For younger kids, Furey recommends replacing uncertainty with concrete steps.

“You can even ask them to charge a flashlight, pick their favorite stuffed animal that they can keep with them to have comfort, and then talk about what is our plan if we lose power,” she explains.

Parents should also avoid two extremes: dismissing a child's fear or feeding it.

“We don't want to join in on their worry and we don't want to catastrophize,” Furey notes.

(MORE: Severe weather vs. social media doomscrolling)

With older kids, the conversation can shift from simply preparing for the next storm to learning how to live with uncertainty without being consumed by it.

Furey describes this as a healthy kind of compartmentalization.

"In that moment, you as the parent also can't fix climate change. Right? And your child isn't actually asking you for the solution. What they're asking you is to see what they're feeling," explains Furey. “Recognize that it is something to worry about, but that it's not productive to worry about it all the time.”

Perhaps the biggest opportunity is for generations to learn from each other.

“Younger people can be so full of energy and enthusiasm,” Furey says, while older generations have “a wealth of experience.”

Bringing together that youthful hope and hard-earned perspective may be one of the best ways families can help one another face the next storm.