Key points
- Extreme heat adds more stress for families struggling with illness, financial strain, or limited resources.
- Emerging research links climate-related stressors, extreme temperatures, and the risk of child abuse.
- Climate change may act as a “threat multiplier,” increasing pressures on families and weakening <a href="https://healthylife7.com/4-breakfast-foods-that-support-liver-health-and-weight-loss/” title=”4 breakfast foods that support liver health and weight loss”>supports.
- Understanding how climate change affects family life offers new opportunities to prevent child maltreatment.
This post is part 1 of a two-part series
On one of the hottest days of the summer, I went to Target. It seemed as if every parent in town had had the same idea. Outside, it was miserable. Inside there was air-conditioning, cold drinks, bathrooms, and enough space to wander around for a while. I remember wondering how many families actually needed something and how many were there because Target was cool
There was a mother shopping with four children, all of them, I guessed, under ten. The kids were restless. One complained. Another wandered off. Someone wanted something. She called them back and asked them to please, please just let her finish shopping
Then I heard her say, “Shut up.”
Not “please be quiet.” Not “inside voices.” Just a sharp “shut up.“
I looked over at her. I wasn’t trying to correct her. I was hoping to catch her eye and give her that look parents sometimes give each other. This heat. These kids. I get it
She looked right back at me, and her face said: Don’t you dare
I knew that look. I’d worn it myself. There is a particular kind of shame in knowing you aren’t doing your best parenting and having it happen in public, where everyone can see. Someone trying to “help” can make you feel worse, not better. So I left her alone
When she turned away, I made a silly face at the youngest child. He looked down
I saw the family again in the parking lot. By then she was trying to wrangle four hot, cranky children into a hot car. She was opening the windows, trying to get them into car seats and seatbelts, telling someone to stop hitting their sister. Her voice was much sharper than it had been in the store
And she was crying
I pulled out my phone and searched for a nearby cooling center. I thought I could mention that I was going there as a way to help her and let her save face. Nothing came up in our town. The closest place I could find was almost 40 minutes away, and I couldn’t tell whether it was even open
So instead, as I loaded my car, I said, “God, this heat is the worst. I hope it breaks soon.”
She shook her head
“Tough day?” I asked, tossing a six-pack of paper towels into the backseat
“Youngest has an ear infection. We can’t go to the town pool. And our apartment AC broke.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “That’s a lot.”
Can Extreme Heat Worsen Parents’ Behavior?
I want to be careful here. I didn’t see this woman abuse her children. I saw a mother having a very bad day. But I thought about them on the drive home. Mostly I thought about how few choices she had
And then I wondered: Is there actually a connection between extreme heat, climate change, and child abuse?I didn’t know. So I looked
Turns out, there is
UNICEF has been studying the intersection of climate change and child protection since 2022. The phrase it uses is “threat multiplier.” Climate change doesn’t have to directly cause someone to hurt a child to increase the danger around that child. UNICEF’s research describes climate shocks worsening poverty, food insecurity and social inequalities while also weakening some of the family and community systems that protect children
Its initial Kenya research was qualitative and involved more than 500 children, families, and other stakeholders. Families described what happened as droughts and floods made already difficult lives harder. Traditional community and extended-family support systems were breaking down. Participants also described rising stress, anxiety, and depression, often with few mental-health re
Environment Essential Reads
Why Your Brain Needs Nature
Preserving Global Biodiversity Means Getting Over Ourselves
Then I found research looking specifically at temperature and child maltreatment, including a U.S. study by Mary Evans, Ludovica Gazze, and Jessamyn Schaller. Using child protective services data, they found increases in alleged and substantiated maltreatment involving young children during hot periods. Neglect was the form of maltreatment most sensitive to temperature, and they found some evidence that air-conditioning reduced the association. The study has since been peer-reviewed and published online in The Review of Economics and Statistics.
Air-conditioning.I immediately thought of the woman at Target
And then I remembered another mother in another parking lot: me
Coming in part 2: A parking lot in 1989, what psychologists know about heat and family stress, and why climate change may need to become part of the conversation about preventing child maltreatment
UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. (2025, November). Exploring the Impact of Climate Shocks on Child Protection: Emerging Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. UNICEF. This is thetive Kenya research involving more than 500 children, families, and stakeholders
Evans, M. F., Gazze, L., & Schaller, J. (2023; revised 2024). Temperature and Maltreatment of Young Children. NBER Working Paper No. 31522. This supports the U.S. findings on hot periods, alleged and substantiated maltreatment, neglect, and the possible mitigating role of air-conditioning
He, C., & Fawzi, W. W. (2026). Social inequalities mediate temperature–child maltreatment associations in Africa. Nature Climate Change, 16, 666–673. This is the study of 114,051 children and adolescents across eight sub-Saharan African countries, including the finding that at the 95th temperature percentile, odds of abuse were 50% higher than at the temperature associated with minimum risk
