Impact of climate-induced migration on depression: a study between disaster-affected migrant and non-migrant adolescents

Bangladesh, as one of the worst victims of climate change faces several impacts including huge climate-induced migration due to climatic disasters. Among the population, adolescents are one of the most vulnerable. Due to the displacement, adolescents' physical and mental well-being is disrupted which is related to the impact of climatic events as well as the migration status. This study aimed to assess the impact of climate-induced migration on depression among migrated and non-migrant adolescents in Bangladesh. A purposive simple cross-sectional research was conducted among the adolescents experiencing climatic disasters and either migrated or remained in place. Besides sociodemographic and socioeconomic questions, PHQ-9 was used to quantify depression. Descriptive statistics, a Pearson chi-square test, and an ordinal logistic model were used in SPSS to examine prevalence and associated factors and gender differences. A total of 1220 participants participated (515 migrated, 705 not migrated). Among the participants, 40.70% experienced cyclones, 29.50% experienced floods, 16.40% of participants were impacted by coastal or riverbank erosion, and the rest 13.40% by other climatic events. Our data showed that 84% of the migrated adolescents experienced depression (30% were at a severe level) while 54.77% of the non-migrated (12.38% were at a severe level). Girls were more depressed than boys. Major factors affecting depression include not going to school, financial hardship after migration, time living in the migrated locations, close relatives' companies, climatic events deaths, sense of security, major physical illness, sanitation system situation, and family size. Climate-induced migration in Bangladesh causes adolescents in danger of physical and emotional damage. Addressing these issues requires strong infrastructure, healthcare, and adolescent-specific psychological support. Climate change mitigation and community resilience may lessen natural catastrophes, safeguarding Bangladeshi adolescents’ health and opportunity.