Environmental disasters associated with climate change can have a big effect on teens’ well-being and academic performance. That’s according to new research from Penn State.

State Impact Pennsylvania reporter Rachel McDevitt’s beat is energy and the environment and was on The Spark Thursday.

The paper looks at data from a survey done over 15 years with more than 1,700 children in Peru.

Researchers looked at test scores, food security and health, and how much time kids spent studying and doing household chores. They also compared the types of trauma a teen went through like a parent's job loss, death of a relative or natural disasters like a flood or drought.

McDevitt quoted a researcher as saying the types of shocks that had the strongest and significant negative effects on young people were environmental shocks.

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