Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Date June 16, 2023
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Joshua Wortzel, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow, Receives Award to Study Climate Change and Mental Health

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow Joshua Wortzel, M.D., has received an award for research from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Wortzel plans to use the $15,000 funding from the Pilot Research Award for Early Career Faculty and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows to study the clinical impact of climate distress on the mental health of youth.

"I am so grateful for AACAP's support of this topic and my academic development,” Wortzel said. “I’m part of a growing community of psychiatrists passionate about helping kids and their families cope with the climate crisis we’re facing. It’s empowering and thrilling to know that our medical association is invested in furthering this new field of research.”

In his pilot study, Wortzel plans to gather data from participating Bradley Hospital patients to: 

  • Assess how climate distress contributes to children's anxiety, depression, and suicidality
  • Identify how climate distress may intersect with or exacerbate other social determinants of mental health, such as self-identified gender and race
  • Begin formulating interventions to support vulnerable children

Wortzel will have the opportunity to submit a poster presentation on his research for AACAP’s annual meeting in Seattle in October of next year. He also plans to use the pilot data to support an application for a career development (K) award from the National Institutes of Health to develop interventions to support children with clinical levels of climate distress.

Wortzel has been active both within the AACAP and the broader professional community of psychiatrists concerned with climate change. He currently serves as vice-chair of the AACAP Resource Group on Climate Mental Health and has received two other appointments this year related to mental health and climate change, serving as Chair of the Committee on Climate Change and Mental Health for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and a Fellow on the Climate Committee of the think tank Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP).