It is well documented that changes in climate patterns are already affecting human physical and mental health and well-being both directly and indirectly.1, 2 Due to their developing brain and vulnerability to disease, children and adolescents are at a higher risk of negative outcomes from climate change such as asthma, food insecurity, and experiencing trauma from extreme weather events.3, 4 Climate change also disproportionately affects children in low-income communities, exacerbating environmental and health inequities.5, 6 Furthermore, children, compared with adults, have longer life spans during which they will experience the worsening effects of climate change. Children and adolescents today have never known and likely will never know a world without climate change.7

Because children as a group are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change, parents may be especially concerned about the impact of climate change. However, previous research has focused on associations between climate change and human health, such as pandemics. Less is known about the level of concern about climate change among specific groups. In the present study, we examined climate change concerns among parents in Chicago - a large and diverse urban setting that experiences climate change-related weather events and rising water levels, which have the potential to affect more than 1 million children living in the city.8