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Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Healthier and Happier Kids
Children living in the United States spend an average of 7 hours a day on entertainment media, including TVs, phones, computers, and video game systems. It’s a lose-lose scenario. Kids are suffering the effects of too much screen time and they’re missing out on the very real benefits of spending time outside. Pediatricians and nature experts Pooja Sarin Tandon and Danette Swanson Glassy make the convincing case that children and families will be happier, healthier, and more resilient when spending time in nature. They offer a wealth of suggestions for nature-based activities and suggestions for overcoming common challenges busy families face when trying to increase their outdoor time. The authors address the importance of nature for children’s health at every age from infancy through adolescence and link their suggested activities to key developmental milestones. Digging Into Nature takes an inclusive approach, providing practical tips for parents of children with special health care needs, chronic health conditions, and cultural considerations to help all children reap the gifts that the great outdoors offer. Related Media Podcasts Outdoors Adventures for Happier Kids (November 2024) The Importance of Getting Our Children Into Nature (September 30, 2024) Pediatricians Share Why Kids Need Time in Nature (September 30, 2024) Reviews Parent Review: Digging into Nature (October 14, 2024)
Read moreHealth Professionals and the Climate Crisis
Health professionals from every corner of the health sector—from allergy to vascular surgery, from epidemiology to environmental health, from nursing to hospital administration—have recognized the magnitude and urgency of the climate crisis. A growing literature provides guidance on how to conceptualize and meet the vast challenges we face and on how to keep our spirits up as we do so.
Read moreIndividual and Neighborhood Level Predictors of Children’s Exposure to Residential Greenspace
Figure 1. Distribution of (A) residential surrounding greenness, (B) tree cover, and (C) park proximity, in the CANDLE cohort for the residential address reported at the time of the age 4–6 year study visit (n = 1012). Residential surrounding greenness is assessed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within a 300-m radial buffer of the home address. Tree cover is assessed as the percentage of the census block group. Park proximity is assessed as the distance to the nearest boundary of a park; the x-axis is truncated at 5 km for visualization purposes. Inequities in urban greenspace have been identified, though patterns by race and socioeconomic status vary across US settings. We estimated the magnitude of the relationship between a broad mixture of neighborhood-level factors and residential greenspace using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and compared predictive models of greenspace using only neighborhood-level, only individual-level, or multi-level predictors. Greenspace measures included the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), tree canopy, and proximity of the nearest park, for residential locations in Shelby County, Tennessee of children in the CANDLE cohort. Neighborhood measures include socioeconomic and education resources, as well as racial composition and racial residential segregation. In this sample of 1012 mother–child dyads, neighborhood factors were associated with higher NDVI and tree canopy (0.021 unit higher NDVI [95% CI: 0.014, 0.028] per quintile increase in WQS index); homeownership rate, proximity of and enrollment at early childhood education centers, and racial composition, were highly weighted in the WQS index. In models constrained in the opposite direction (0.028 unit lower NDVI [95% CI: − 0.036, − 0.020]), high school graduation rate and teacher experience were highly weighted. In prediction models, adding individual-level predictors to the suite of neighborhood characteristics did not meaningfully improve prediction accuracy for greenspace measures. Our findings highlight disparities in greenspace for families by neighborhood socioeconomic and early education factors, and by race, suggesting several neighborhood indicators for consideration both as potential confounders in studies of greenspace and pediatric health as well as in the development of policies and programs to improve equity in greenspace access.
Read moreMeasuring Urban Nature for Pedestrian Health: Systematic Review and Expert Survey
Walking and access to nature are two of the most effective health promotion and disease prevention strategies. There has been a growing interest in the dynamic pathways among access to nature, walking, and health. Effective measurement of these variables is the prerequisite to advancing our understanding of such pathways. However, contrasting to the rigorous methods available for walking and health measures, methods to quantify nature have been limited. This study uses a systematic literature review to synthesize urban nature measures (UNMs) used in published studies linking urban nature with pedestrian health outcomes (e.g. walking, physical activity, physical health, mental health). A survey of experts (n = 30) was used to identify additional and emerging methods. The literature search identified 115 articles and 48 UNMs most of which (40 or 83%) were objective measures. Results showed no consensus on the optimal UNMs for pedestrian health research, but certain measures such as NDVI, proximity to green spaces, and area/proportion of green spaces, were popularly used in previous studies. Experts suggested emerging methods including LiDAR, GPS, high-resolution imagery, virtual/augmented reality, and context-sensitive ecological momentary assessment. Major gaps in current UNMs included the shortage of eye-level and quality-related measures. While experts acknowledge the promise of emerging technologies, they shared concerns related to privacy, digital divide, confidentiality, and bias. This study offers insights into the UNMs available to quantify nature for pedestrian health research, which can serve to facilitate future research, community actions, and policy changes aimed at promoting walking and nature access for healthier urban communities.
Read moreMechanisms Underlying the Associations Between Different Types of Nature Exposure and Sleep Duration: An 18-Country Analysis
Figure 1. Schematic representation of conceptual model of the relationships between nature exposures, proposed mediators and insufficient sleep. Whilst green space has been linked to healthier sleep outcomes, the roles of specific types of nature exposure, potential underlying mechanisms, and between-country variations in nature-sleep associations have received little attention. Drawing on cross-sectional survey data from an 18-country sample of adults (N = 16,077) the current study examined: 1) the relative associations between six different types of nature exposure (streetscape greenery, blue view from home, green space within 1 km, coast within 1 km, green space visits, blue space visits) and insufficient sleep (<6 h vs. 7–10 h per day); 2) whether these relationships were mediated by better mental wellbeing and/or physical activity; and 3) the consistency of these pathways among the different countries. After controlling for covariates, neighbourhood nature measures (green space, coast within 1 km) were not significantly associated with insufficient sleep; but nature visible from home (streetscape greenery, blue views and recreational visits to green and blue spaces were each associated with less insufficient sleep. Significant nature-sleep associations were mediated, to varying degrees, by better mental wellbeing, but not self-reported physical activity. Country-level heterogeneity in the strength of nature-sleep associations was observed. Increasing nature visible from the home may represent a promising strategy for promoting healthier sleep duration at the population level, whilst nature-based interventions encouraging individuals to spend time in local green/blue spaces may be an appropriate target to assist individuals affected by insufficient sleep.
Read moreNature and Human Well-Being: The Olfactory Pathway
Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the pathway from exposure to natural olfactory environments to human well-being. The olfactory environment is characterized by the concentrations and ratios of airborne chemicals. Dimensions of olfactory function (i.e., sensitivity, discrimination, and identification) are influenced by a variety of individual and environmental factors, which together moderate olfactory perception. Subjective experience is a mediator through which olfactory perceptions lead to well-being outcomes. Relevant determinants of this experience include individual preference, culture, association, prior experience, and multisensory context. Other pathways to well-being include those that occur below the threshold of perception (i.e., subthreshold) and those that occur via initial affective responses that are suprathreshold but independent of top-down processes related to subjective experience. These components lead to a variety of well-being outcomes, from broader dimensions such as quality of and satisfaction with life, to emotional responses and emotion regulation, cognitive function, influences on behavior (social interactions and dietary choices), stress, depressive symptoms, (anti-)inflammatory processes, and effects from exposures to pathogens. Together, these outcomes are the result of subthreshold biochemical processes, initial affective responses, and subjective appraisals of odors from nature. A variety of other pathways mediate the relationship between olfactory environments and human well-being, although they are not illustrated here. Credit: University of Washington The world is undergoing massive atmospheric and ecological change, driving unprecedented challenges to human well-being. Olfaction is a key sensory system through which these impacts occur. The sense of smell influences quality of and satisfaction with life, emotion, emotion regulation, cognitive function, social interactions, dietary choices, stress, and depressive symptoms. Exposures via the olfactory pathway can also lead to (anti-)inflammatory outcomes. Increased understanding is needed regarding the ways in which odorants generated by nature (i.e., natural olfactory environments) affect human well-being. With perspectives from a range of health, social, and natural sciences, we provide an overview of this unique sensory system, four consensus statements regarding olfaction and the environment, and a conceptual framework that integrates the olfactory pathway into an understanding of the effects of natural environments on human well-being. We then discuss how this framework can contribute to better accounting of the impacts of policy and land-use decision-making on natural olfactory environments and, in turn, on planetary health. Related Media How the smells of nature can affect human well-being (May 29, 2024) How do the smells of nature affect well-being? A call for more research. (May 23, 2024) Nature’s scents linked to improved health and well-being (May 16, 2024)
Read morePhysical Activity in Natural Settings: An Opportunity for Lifestyle Medicine
Physical activity is a well-known behavior for promoting health and preventing a variety of chronic diseases. Despite widespread knowledge of the benefits of physical activity, most Americans do not engage in sufficient physical activity. Over the past decade, there has been increasing recognition of the health benefits of spending time in nature, mediated in part through physical activity. This has led to new partnerships across health, parks and recreation, public lands, and environmental organizations to increase time spent, and physical activity, in natural settings. This review assesses the current evidence around physical activity in natural settings (PANS), strategies for promoting PANS including health professional engagement, and current gaps in the research literature. Related Media Does Greenspace Plus Exercise Boost the Individual Health Benefits of Each? (June 11, 2024)
Read morePromoting Health Through Nature-Based Climate Solutions
Nature-based climate solutions represent a set of strategies and tools that can help mitigate carbon emissions, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, promote adaptation to climate change, and build resilience. They need to be implemented as part of an integrated set of climate actions. They aim to accomplish specific mitigation and adaptation goals effectively, economically, and safely. They deliver a wide range of co-benefits, including co-benefits for health and well-being. Nature-based climate solutions can cause unintended and even harmful consequences, and therefore need to be carefully planned, implemented, and managed. This chapter explores nature-based climate solutions in cities as well as in rural and wildland areas. It discusses tradeoffs, policy levers, economic levers, communications, and equity considerations that arise in implementing nature-based climate solutions. The chapter also includes a textbox on ecosystem services and nature’s services to people, and a textbox on the number of trees that the world can support.
Read morePublic Nature and Health for Homeless Populations: Professionals’ Perceptions of Contingent Human Benefits and Harms
Table 1. Characteristics of the overall homeless and unsheltered homeless population in Washington (statewide), and King and Snohomish counties (US Census, 2020; US HUD, 2022a; 2022b). Professionals observe benefits and harms of natural area use for homeless populations. Perceived harms include increased environmental exposures and social vulnerability. Perceived benefits include privacy, desired social conditions, and reduced stress. Relationships between nature and health were seen as variable and context dependent. This article investigates relationships between public nature and health for unsheltered homeless populations. It examines perceptions of health benefits and harms for people living in public natural areas including local, state, and national forests and parks in the Seattle metropolitan area (USA). Interviews with environmental, social service, and law enforcement professionals who regularly interact with this vulnerable population were conducted and thematically analyzed to understand perceptions of physical and mental health outcomes. Results show professionals’ perspectives on the health benefits and detriments of time spent in natural environments and the contextual factors perceived to influence health. Interviewees’ observations about the variability of personal circumstances and biophysical, social, and weather conditions encourage the nuanced consideration of how contingent therapeutic landscapes provide deeply needed benefits, but for a population with a diminished capacity to adapt when conditions change. We conclude with insights for future research that directly assesses homeless populations’ exposures and health outcomes of living in public natural areas.
Read moreStreet Trees Provide an Opportunity to Mitigate Urban Heat and Reduce Risk of High Heat Exposure
Figure 1. Study area for this work, which is part of the Greening Research in Tacoma (GRIT) project, is located in South Tacoma, Washington, USA, shown by the black square on global map, where solar radiation shields (photographed) containing temperature loggers were installed on utility poles. Here we report on temperature data from loggers at 46 locations throughout the neighborhood (blue dots) during summer 2022. Climate change is exacerbating the need for urban greening and the associated environmental and human well-being benefits. Trees can help mitigate urban heat, but more detailed understanding of cooling effects of green infrastructure are needed to guide management decisions and deploy trees as effective and equitable climate adaptation infrastructure. We investigated how urban trees affect summer air temperature along sidewalks within a neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington, USA, and to what extent urban trees reduce risks of high summer temperatures (i.e., the levels regulated by state outdoor heat exposure rules intended to reduce heat-related illnesses). Air temperature varied by 2.57 °C, on average, across our study area, and the probability of daytime temperatures exceeding regulated high temperature thresholds was up to five times greater in locations with no canopy cover within 10 m compared to those with 100% cover. Air temperatures decreased linearly with increasing cover within 10 m, suggesting that every unit of added tree cover can help cool the air. Our findings highlight the value of trees in mitigating urban heat, especially given expected warming with climate change. Protecting existing urban trees and increasing tree cover (e.g., by planting street trees), are important actions to enhance climate change resilience of urban areas.
Read moreSusceptibility to Stress and Nature Exposure: Unveiling Differential Susceptibility to Physical Environments; A Randomized Controlled Trial
Figure 1. Theoretical framework. Emerging epidemiological evidence indicates that nature exposure could be associated with cardiovascular health among individuals in low socioeconomic positions to a greater degree than among more privileged groups. Continue reading at PLOS ONE. Background Emerging epidemiological evidence indicates nature exposure could be associated with greater health benefits among groups in lower versus higher socioeconomic positions. One possible mechanism underpinning this evidence is described by our framework: (susceptibility) adults in low socioeconomic positions face higher exposure to persistent psychosocial stressors in early life, inducing a pro-inflammatory phenotype as a lifelong susceptibility to stress; (differential susceptibility) susceptible adults are more sensitive to the health risks of adverse (stress-promoting) environments, but also to the health benefits of protective (stress-buffering) environments. Objective Experimental investigation of a pro-inflammatory phenotype as a mechanism facilitating greater stress recovery from nature exposure. Methods We determined differences in stress recovery (via heart rate variability) caused by exposure to a nature or office virtual reality environment (10 min) after an acute stressor among 64 healthy college-age males with varying levels of susceptibility (socioeconomic status, early life stress, and a pro-inflammatory state [inflammatory reactivity and glucocorticoid resistance to an in vitro bacterial challenge]). Results Findings for inflammatory reactivity and glucocorticoid resistance were modest but consistently trended towards better recovery in the nature condition. Differences in recovery were not observed for socioeconomic status or early life stress. Discussion Among healthy college-age males, we observed expected trends according to their differential susceptibility when assessed as inflammatory reactivity and glucocorticoid resistance, suggesting these biological correlates of susceptibility could be more proximal indicators than self-reported assessments of socioeconomic status and early life stress. If future research in more diverse populations aligns with these trends, this could support an alternative conceptualization of susceptibility as increased environmental sensitivity, reflecting heightened responses to adverse, but also protective environments. With this knowledge, future investigators could examine how individual differences in environmental sensitivity could provide an opportunity for those who are the most susceptible to experience the greatest health benefits from nature exposure.
Read moreThe Fundamentals of Environmental Neuroscience
In this chapter, we explore the fundamentals of the field of environmental neuroscience. We start by defining the field of environmental neuroscience and then proceed to describing its roots and outlining some of its distinguishing features. We define what we mean by an environment, including those factors that are considered in this work, focus on the effects of natural environments, and note why many researchers do the same. We then discuss some of the mechanisms through which natural environments may affect brain processing through the perception of different visual and acoustic features and the centrality of attentional processes. We close by discussing some of the pitfalls and challenges that environmental neuroscientists face and how those challenges may be overcome in the future.
Read moreThe Influence of Wildfire Risk Reduction Programs and Practices on Recreation Visitation
Figure 1. Area within the Deschutes Skyline Collaborative ForestLandscape Restoration Project (in blue) compared with the area of the remainder of the Deschutes National Forest (in green). Map made in QGIS v 3.30. Background The increasing extent and severity of uncharacteristic wildfire has prompted numerous policies and programs promoting landscape-scale fuels reduction. Aims We used novel data sources to measure how recreation was influenced by fuels reduction efforts under the US Forest Service Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program. Methods We used posts to four social media platforms to estimate the number of social media user-days within CFLR landscapes and asked: (1) did visitation within CFLR Program landscapes between 2012 and 2020 change in a manner consistent with the pattern on nearby lands, and (2) was there a relationship between the magnitudes of specific fuel treatment activities within CFLR landscapes and visitation to that landscape? Key results In aggregate, visitation to the CFLR landscapes changed at a rate mirroring the trend observed elsewhere. Within CFLR landscapes, pre-commercial thinning and pruning had slight positive influences on visitation whereas prescribed burning and managed wildfire had slight negative influences. Conclusions Fuel treatments can have a modest influence on visitation, but we didnot find any wholesale changes in visitation within CFLR landscapes. Implications Social media and other novel data sources offer an opportunity to fill in gaps in empirical data on recreation to better understand social-ecological system linkages.
Read moreWhat Types of Nature Exposure Are Associated With Hedonic, Eudaimonic and Evaluative Wellbeing? An 18-Country Study
Figure 2. Summary of fully adjusted models of all dimensions of SWB and residential availability and visits to green space, coastal blue space and freshwater blue space. Although spending time in nature can improve subjective wellbeing (SWB), little is known about how different types of nature exposure are associated with different dimensions of SWB or the consistency of associations across national/cultural contexts. Using data from 18 countries, associations between green, coastal and freshwater blue space exposures (including residential availability, visits ‘yesterday’ and visits in the previous four weeks) and hedonic, eudaimonic, and evaluative wellbeing were estimated. Overall, residential nature availability showed little association with any wellbeing outcome, whereas visiting green and coastal locations ‘yesterday’ was associated with better hedonic wellbeing. Although frequently visiting green, coastal and freshwater spaces were all associated with greater evaluative wellbeing, greater eudaimonic wellbeing was only associated with frequent visits to green and freshwater spaces. Variations existed across countries. Results suggest that different types of nature exposure vary in their association with different dimensions of SWB. Understanding these differences may help us maximise the potential of natural environments as SWB-promoting resources.
Read moreA Text-Messaging Chatbot to Support Outdoor Recreation Monitoring Through Community Science
Figure 1. Volunteer participation rates at sites grouped by parking lot size (small, medium, and large). Participation rates were statistically significantly higher at sites with small parking lots (a) compared to medium and large lots (b). There was no significant difference in participation rates between sites with large- and medium-sized parking lots (b). Public land managers depend on reliable and readily available data about outdoor recreation in parks and greenspaces. However, traditional recreation monitoring techniques including visitor surveying and counting cannot be implemented over large spatial and temporal scales, especially in remote and undeveloped settings where monitoring is costly. To fill these data gaps, and thereby inform decision-making, this study develops and tests the efficacy of a novel recreation monitoring technique that engages visitors in data collection using a chatbot and text-messages. Drawing on knowledge and methods from community science and crowdsourcing, we present a relatively low-cost and low-barrier approach to counting and characterizing recreational visits on public lands. In an 18-month pilot implementation on a national forest in Washington, USA, we found that crowdsourced data collected using the chatbot were consistent with results of controlled counts and in-person surveys. Furthermore, some sites received relatively high participation rates, up to 12% of recreating parties, regardless of cellular connectivity at the site. This study, which is the first to engage public land usersin community science using a text-messaging chatbot for the purposes of studying outdoor recreation, demonstrates the potential for technology to support new community science approaches that involve visitors in land stewardship and the development of recreation monitoring systems.
Read moreAll Systems are Interrelated: Multilevel Interventions with Indigenous Communities
Figure 1. Indigenous Holistic Health and Wellness Multilevel Framework. Colonial historical trauma and ongoing structural racism have impacted Indigenous peoples for generations and explain the ongoing health disparities. However, Indigenous peoples have been engaging in multilevel, clinical trial interventions with Indigenous and allied research scientists resulting in promising success. In this paper, National Institutes of Health funded scientists in the field of Indigenous health have sought to describe the utility and need for multilevel interventions across Indigenous communities (Jernigan et al., 2020). We posit limitations to the existing socioecological, multilevel frameworks and propose a dynamic, interrelated heuristic framework, which focuses on the inter-relationships of the collective within the environment and de-centers the individual. We conclude with identified calls for action within multilevel clinical trial research.
Read moreApplying an Ecosystem Services Framework on Nature and Mental Health to Recreational Blue Space Visits Across 18 Countries
The effects of nature on mental health and subjective well-being have yet to be consistently integrated into ecosystem service models and frameworks. To address this gap, we used data on subjective mental well-being from an 18-country survey to test a conceptual model integrating mental health with ecosystem services, initially proposed by Bratman et al. We analysed a range of individual and contextual factors in the context of 14,998 recreational visits to blue spaces, outdoor environments which prominently feature water. Consistent with the conceptual model, subjective mental well-being outcomes were dependent upon on a complex interplay of environmental type and quality, visit characteristics, and individual factors. These results have implications for public health and environmental management, as they may help identify the bluespace locations, environmental features, and key activities, that are most likely to impact well-being, but also potentially affect recreational demand on fragile aquatic ecosystems.
Read moreBeyond “Bluespace” and “Greenspace”: A Narrative Review of Possible Health Benefits from Exposure to Other Natural Landscapes
Graphical abstract: Does exposure to natural landscapes not dominated by plants or liquid-water influence human health? Numerous studies have highlighted the physical and mental health benefits of contact with nature, typically in landscapes characterized by plants (i.e., “greenspace”) and water (i.e., “bluespace”). However, natural landscapes are not always green or blue, and the effects of other landscapes are worth attention. This narrative review attempts to overcome this limitation of past research. Rather than focusing on colors, we propose that natural landscapes are composed of at least one of three components: (1) plants (e.g., trees, flowering plants, grasses, sedges, mosses, ferns, and algae), (2) water (e.g., rivers, canals, lakes, and oceans), and/or (3) rocks and minerals, including soil. Landscapes not dominated by plants or liquid-state water include those with abundant solid-state water (e.g., polar spaces) and rocks or minerals (e.g., deserts and caves). Possible health benefits of solid-state water or rock/mineral dominated landscapes include both shorter-term (e.g., viewing images) and longer-term (e.g., living in these landscapes) exposure durations. Reported benefits span improved emotional and mental states and medical treatment resources for respiratory conditions and allergies. Mechanisms underlying the health benefits of exposure consist of commonly discussed theories in the “greenspace” and “bluespace” literature (i.e., instoration and restoration) as well as less discussed pathways in that literature (i.e., post-traumatic growth, self-determination, supportive environment theory, and place attachment). This is the first review to draw attention to the potential salutogenic value of natural landscapes beyond “greenspace” and “bluespace.” It is also among the first to highlight the limitations and confusion that result from classifying natural landscapes using color. Since the extant literature on natural landscapes – beyond those with abundant plants or liquid-state water – is limited in regard to quantity and quality, additional research is needed to understand their restorative potential and therapeutic possibilities.
Read moreBlack Bodies and Green Spaces: Remembering the Eminence of Nature During a Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed not only the true value of nature and open public spaces, but it reified the presence and persistence of racism in and throughout American institutions. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials encouraged people to visit parks and green spaces as a way to be safe against COVID-19 transmission, the toxic presence and persistence of racism experienced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) was fully exposed. Through an examination of built, social and natural environments, this chapter will delve into historical and contemporary inequities stemming from structural racism. The toxic interrelationship between race-/class-based privilege and place, as well as its impact on nature and green space access and connection, particularly throughout the pandemic will be critically assessed.
Read moreChildren in Hong Kong Interacting with Relatively Wild Nature (vs. Domestic Nature) Engage in Less Dominating and More Relational Behaviors
Figure 1. Examples of relatively wild areas and relatively domestic areas. Might interacting with relatively wild forms of nature help move our world away from its largely domination-oriented and destructive sensibilities? Toward broaching this question, this study used an Interaction Pattern Approach to model child-nature interaction in a Hong Kong nature program. Observational video data were collected of 54 children (mean age 4.8 years) while they were playing in relatively wild or domestic landscapes. In total, 708 interactions were coded and categorized based on 37 distinct interaction patterns. Based on this modeling, we then tested two hypotheses: (1) that in the more domesticated nature areas, children would engage in more domination interaction patterns (e.g., catching wild animals), and (2) in the more wild nature areas, children would engage in more relational interaction patterns (e.g., cohabitating with wild animals). Both hypotheses were supported statistically. Discussion focuses on the importance of interacting with relatively wild aspects of nature, even in urban areas.
Read moreChildren’s Interactions with Relatively Wild Nature Associated with More Relational Behavior: A Model of Child-Nature Interaction in a Forest Preschool
Figure 1. Annotated maps of the Magnolia and Trillium outdoor nature classroom sites at Fiddleheads Forest Preschool in Seattle, WA. Interaction with nature is vital for children’s physical and psychological development. Nature preschools provide the means for such interaction, but little is known about the significance of child-nature interactions in these settings. Using a randomized time-sampling methodology, we conducted an observational study of 49 children in a forest preschool. Video data was collected over 35 weeks. Based on second-by-second coding, and drawing on Interaction Pattern theory, we developed a model of child-nature interaction in this setting. We then tested our hypothesis that relatively wild areas of this environment would be positively associated with child-nature behaviors that were more relational – that is, behaviors demonstrating a bond with nature or respect, including the ability to cohabitate with other lifeforms, and to promote the well-being of nature. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Discussion focuses on the phylogenetic and ontogenetic significance of the 26 modeled child-nature interactions, and the importance of more wild natural environments for human development and flourishing.
Read moreDaily Exposure to Virtual Nature Reduces Symptoms of Anxiety in College Students
Figure 3. 360-degree videos shown in the virtual nature intervention (Courtesy of INVIROVR). Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single “doses” of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood. Motivated by this gap, we studied the influence of a daily virtual nature intervention on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and an underlying cause of poor mental health: rumination. Forty college students (58% non-Hispanic White, median age = 19) were recruited from two U.S. universities and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Over several weeks, anxious arousal (panic) and anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure. Participants identifying as women, past VR users, experienced with the outdoors, and engaged with the beauty in nature benefited particularly strongly from virtual nature. Virtual nature did not help symptoms of anhedonic depression or rumination. Further research is necessary to distinguish when and for whom virtual nature interventions impact mental health outcomes.
Read moreDifferent Types of Virtual Natural Environments Enhance Subjective Vitality Through Restorativeness
Figure 1. Graphical representation of the experimental procedure. The body of evidence supporting the psychological benefits of exposure to virtual nature, such as increased mood and decreased stress, is rapidly growing. However, few studies have explored the potential of virtual nature to boost subjective vitality, defined as a positive feeling of aliveness and energy. In this contribution, we investigate the role of virtual nature in enhancing subjective vitality through restorativeness. In particular, we expand the existing literature by considering different types of natural environments (i.e., a national park, a lacustrine environment, and an arctic environment vs. an urban environment). We designed a randomized between-subject design with a sample of 113 university students (Mage = 21.99, SD = 1.82). Participants were exposed to four 360-degree panoramic photos with a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display. We collected measures of the variables of interest immediately before and after exposure, and a series of control variables (i.e., sociodemographics, individual differences and personal conditions, previous VR experience, frequency of contact with nature, and variables related to participants’ experience during VR). We performed a mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable (i.e., the experimental condition). Results confirmed our hypotheses, with three significant indirect effects of virtual nature exposure on subjective vitality through restorativeness, one for each natural environment as compared to the urban environment. The wide range of practical implications for different types of psychological interventions as well as future research directions are discussed.
Read moreEmotion Regulation and Virtual Nature: Cognitive Reappraisal as an Individual-Level Moderator for Impacts on Subjective Vitality
Figure 1. Graphical representation of the simple slope analysis. CR cognitive reappraisal. People who make habitual use of an emotion regulation strategy such as cognitive reappraisal may be more sensitive to the emotion cues coming from a surrounding natural environment and, thus, get more benefits from virtual nature exposure such as enhanced subjective vitality. However, no previous study investigated the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal in the relationship between exposure to different types of natural environments (a national park, a lacustrine environment, and an arctic environment vs. an urban environment) and subjective vitality. We designed a between-subject design (four conditions, one per type of environment) with a sample of 187 university students (Mage = 21.17, SD = 2.55). Participants were exposed to four 360° panoramic photos of the environment for one minute each with a virtual reality head-mounted display. The results of a multicategorical moderation analysis attested that there were two significant interactions, respectively between lacustrine and arctic environments and cognitive reappraisal. More specifically, for participants with low levels of habitual use of cognitive reappraisal, the effects of virtual nature (vs. urban) exposure on subjective vitality were not significant, while for participants with high levels, the effects were significant and positive. Findings show how the potential of virtual nature may be boosted with training aimed at increasing the general use of cognitive reappraisal, supports enhancing the applications of virtual nature, and demonstrates the need to take individual differences into account when determining the benefits of these applications.
Read moreForest Therapy as a Trauma-Informed Approach to Disaster Recovery: Insights from a Wildfire-Affected Community
Figure 1. The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy standard sequence of events used to guide a forest therapy experience. Clifford and Page, 2020. A trauma-informed approach to disaster recovery recognizes the potential impacts of trauma, promotes resilience to protect against retraumatization, and can support catering the needs of disaster survivors in affected communities. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that interaction with nature is associated with a number of physical and mental health benefits, though literature surrounding nature-based therapy and disaster survivors is limited. Through key informant interviews with forest therapy guides from a program in wildfire affected Butte County, CA, this exploratory study investigates if and how “Forest Therapy ’’ can serve as a trauma-informed approach to promote wellbeing in the face of climate change and associated disasters. We find that community-based forest therapy programs offer a promising, flexible approach to community-based trauma-informed mental health services in disaster-affected communities. Findings also identify opportunities to tailor implementation of future programs to better reach populations most impacted by disasters, including through targeted outreach and diverse guide recruitment. Future research should investigate the impacts of forest therapy on the mental health and wellbeing of participants, as well as the scalability of forest therapy programs in disaster-affected communities.
Read moreHealthy by Nature: Policy Practices Aimed at Maximizing the Human Behavioral Health Benefits of Nature Contact
Research suggests that spending time in nature is associated with numerous human behavioral health benefits, including improved executive functioning abilities, enhanced recovery from stressful situations, better mental health, and better educational outcomes. Greener neighborhoods also tend to have positive population-level health outcomes. Although promising, much of this research has focused primarily on selective populations and fails to account for cultural differences in how “nature” is conceptualized. Therefore, challenges may arise as policymakers aim to implement nature-based policies in their communities, given the immense cultural diversity of the United States alone. Given this ever-present challenge in behavioral sciences, policy recommendations aim both to maximize benefits of nature contact and to employ a flexible equity lens that allow for differences according to community need.
Read moreLand as a Process of Reconciliation: Transforming Health Narratives Among Land-Based Healing Camp Facilitators
Colonialism has resulted in isolation, lack of services, and health disparities experienced by Indigenous peoples (IPs)1 which increased risk for COVID-19. Despite this, IPs have found ways to thrive. For example, they have implemented land-based healing (LBH) interventions2, 3, 4. Increasing cultural continuity through reconnecting to the land has broad implications for the health and wellbeing of IPs. As such, CIEDAR (CoVaRR-Net’s Indigenous Engagement, Development, and Research Pillar 7) partnered with Taché Waters Healing Society (TWHS) to achieve the following objectives. To co-develop a LBH camp grounded in culture to facilitate healing from the ongoing impacts of settler-colonialism, exacerbated by the pandemic. To evaluate the LBH camp pilot by asking the following question: How does being guided upon the land influence facilitators perspectives of health and wellbeing? The Indigenous Worldviews that informed the camp created a decolonizing space. This allowed camp facilitators to shift their narrative about health and wellbeing from one that was Westernized towards one that sees wellbeing as a holistic process. After this shift in understanding occurred, facilitators formed connections with others, themselves, and place, which facilitated wellbeing.
Read moreLeveraging Neuroscience for Climate Change Research
Figure 1: Reciprocal relationships between the brain and a changing environment. Anthropogenic climate change poses a substantial threat to societal living conditions. Here, we argue that neuroscience can substantially contribute to the fight against climate change and provide a framework and a roadmap to organize and prioritize neuroscience research in this domain. We outline how neuroscience can be used to: (1) investigate the negative impact of climate change on the human brain; (2) identify ways to adapt; (3) understand the neural substrates of decisions with pro-environmental and harmful outcomes; and (4) create neuroscience-based insights into communication and intervention strategies that aim to promote climate action. The paper is also a call to action for neuroscientists to join broader scientific efforts to tackle the existential environmental threats Earth is currently facing. Related Media Call for Action: The Power of Neuroscience to fight against Climate Change (November 13, 2023)
Read moreMeasuring Population Mental Health
Good mental health is a vital part of people’s well-being, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to its importance. However, discussions so far have not focused sufficiently on how governments should best monitor it at the broader population level, and on how to consider both mental ill-health and positive mental states. This report supports national statistical offices and other data producers in collecting high-quality measures of population mental health outcomes in a more frequent, consistent and internationally harmonised manner. It documents existing measurement practice across OECD countries, discusses the advantages and limitations of available measurement tools, and recommends priority measures to adopt in household, social and health surveys. Measuring Population Mental Health is the first of two reports as part of an assessment of mental health and well-being in the context of the OECD’s work on measuring well-being.
Read moreModeling and Forecasting Percent Changes in National Park Visitation Using Social Media
Figure 1. Yellowstone National Park time series decomposition of National Park Service (NPS) counts. National parks have tremendous cultural, ecological, and economic value to societies. In order to manage and maintain these public spaces, decision-makers rely on detailed information about park use and park condition. Many parks, however, lack precise visitor counts because of challenges associated with monitoring large and inaccessible areas with porous boundaries. To facilitate better management, we propose a method to estimate percentage changes in park visitation without using any on-site visitor counts. Specifically, using 20 national parks in the United States, we develop a time series model for forecasting future monthly changes in visitation based on the volume of social media images shared by visitors to parks. Forecasts are generated from historic park-level and national-level photo-user-days (PUD) of images posted to Flickr, using singular spectrum analysis (SSA). We further propose an approach for augmenting existing on-site visitation data collected by the US National Park Service. Our model evaluations indicate that the proposed model that only uses social media data achieves competitive performance to the models which partially or fully utilizes on-site visitor counts.
Read moreNature Contact and General Health: Testing Multiple Serial Mediation Pathways with Data from Adults in 18 Countries
Figure 1. A diagram of the proposed modelling approach. Direct effects from neighbourhood nature and nature visit frequency variables to general health are not shown for clarity. Solid lines represent direct, indirect, or potential confounding effects. Dotted lines represent residual covariances. The role of neighbourhood nature in promoting good health is increasingly recognised in policy and practice, but consistent evidence for the underlying mechanisms is lacking. Heterogeneity in exposure methods, outcome measures, and population characteristics, little exploration of recreational use or the role of different types of green or blue space, and multiple separate mediation models in previous studies have limited our ability to synthesise findings and draw clear conclusions. We examined multiple pathways linking different types of neighbourhood nature with general health using a harmonised international sample of adults. Using cross-sectional survey data from 18 countries (n = 15,917), we developed a multigroup path model to test theorised pathways, controlling for sociodemographic variables. We tested the possibility that neighbourhood nature (e.g. greenspace, inland bluespace, and coastal bluespace) would be associated with general health through lower air pollution exposure, greater physical activity attainment, more social contact, and higher subjective well-being. However, our central prediction was that associations between different types of neighbourhood nature and general health would largely be serially mediated by recent visit frequency to corresponding environment types, and, subsequently, physical activity, social contact, and subjective well-being associated with these frequencies. Several subsidiary analyses assessed the robustness of the results to alternative model specifications as well as effect modification by sociodemographics. Consistent with this prediction, there was statistical support for eight of nine potential serial mediation pathways via visit frequency which held for a range of alternative model specifications. Effect modification by financial strain, sex, age, and urbanicity altered some associations but did not necessarily support the idea that nature reduced health inequalities. The results demonstrate that across countries, theorised nature-health linkages operate primarily through recreational contact with natural environments. This provides arguments for greater efforts to support use of local green/blue spaces for health promotion and disease prevention.
Read moreNature-Based Solutions and Mental Health
Nature-Based Solutions for Cities This chapter demonstrates the mental health benefits of nature-based solutions in cities. First, factors that determine urban mental health and adverse health effects of environmental stressors in cities are explained. Second, it is demonstrated that green spaces as nature-based solutions for many societal challenges provide co-benefits for mental health by reducing these stressors. It is further discussed how nature-based solutions may target supporting mental health by providing resources for human–nature interaction, enhancing social interaction and strengthening mental resilience. Nature-based interventions that are originally intended to support persons with psychiatric illness are introduced as models for the design of mentally supportive cities. And third, two case studies illustrate the mental health benefits of urban parks with the example of Leipzig, Germany and of street trees by the example of Hyderabad, India. The two case studies were used as application cases for a recent conceptual framework as a guide for putting science into practice.
Read morePhysical Activity and Social Interaction Assessments in Schoolyard Settings Using the System for Observing Outdoor Play Environments in Neighborhood Schools (SOOPEN)
Figure 1. (a) Schoolyard 1, (b) schoolyard 2, and (c) schoolyard 3 target areas for SOOPEN observations. Black outlines indicate the boundaries of each target area and white dots indicate the location where observers stood to conduct scans. For example, at School 3 (panel C), zone 1 is a paved surface, zone 2 is a covered basketball court (paved surface), zone 3 is a paved surface, zone 4 is a set of swings, zone 5 is a play structure, and zone 6 is a grass field bordered by a paved walking path Background The schoolyard environment provides key opportunities to promote physical activity and socioemotional development for children. Schoolyards can also serve as a community park resource outside of school hours. We aimed to: (i) implement and evaluate reliability of the System for Observing Outdoor Play Environments in Neighborhood Schools (SOOPEN), (ii) assess schoolyard use by children during recess and community members of all ages outside of school hours, and (iii) investigate relationships of schoolyard and children´s group characteristics with physical activity levels and prosocial interactions. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we observed student and community visitor behavior using SOOPEN at three urban elementary schoolyards in Tacoma, Washington, USA, prior to renovations intended to expand each facility’s use as a community park in neighborhoods with poor park access. We assessed interrater reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients and described current levels of schoolyard use (at the group level), physical activity, and prosocial behavior. Physical activity was assessed on a five-point scale and dichotomized to indicate moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Social interactions were coded as prosocial, antisocial, or neutral. We examined associations of selected schoolyard features and group characteristics with group MVPA and prosocial behavior during recess using modified Poisson regression to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results We observed a total of 981 activity-defined, informal groups in the schoolyards, and achieved good to excellent interrater reliability using SOOPEN. Community use of the schoolyards during evenings and weekends was limited (n = 56 groups). During 26, 25–50 min recess periods (n = 833 groups), 19% of groups were engaged in MVPA. Schoolyard areas with paved surfaces were associated with more MVPA (PR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.23) compared to field/grass areas; supervised groups were associated with less MVPA than groups not directly supervised by an adult (PR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.96). Schoolyard characteristics were not associated with prosocial behavior. Mixed-gender groups were associated with more MVPA and more prosocial behavior. Conclusions Our study using SOOPEN, a reliable new activity observation tool, highlights the multi-dimensional dynamics of physical activity and social interactions in schoolyards, which could be leveraged to promote healthy behaviors during and outside of school hours.
Read moreQuantifying Nature: Introducing NatureScoreTM and NatureDoseTM as Health Analysis and Promotion Tools
Utilizing nature to promote health requires convenient and accurate technologies to quantify peoples’ daily exposure levels. … Advancements in geospatial datasets, exposure assessment, tracking methodology, and big data/machine learning techniques provide opportunities to meet the unmet nature-exposure measurement need. NatureQuantTM, a new research and technology institution, was formed with this goal in mind. It recently created 2 technologies that may help overcome existing barriers in quantifying nature exposure and, in turn, expand its use for health promotion.64 The first technology is the NatureScoreTM dataset and tool, which summarizes the environmental conditions at a given location to generate an overall “NatureScore” value, discussed below. The second technology is the “NatureDose” mobile app, which references NatureScoreTM values as an individual moves through time and space to generate an overall metric of nature exposure over time (Figure 1). These technologies are beginning to help researchers refine our understanding of the benefits of nature exposure and catalyze the use of nature as a health promotion tool.65,66
Read moreSocial Media Data for Environmental Sustainability: A Critical Review of Opportunities, Threats, and Ethical Use
Figure 1. A virtuous cycle for social media (SM) data andsustainability through transparency, inclusivity, and responsibledata use Social media data are transforming sustainability science. However, challenges from restrictions in data accessibility and ethical concerns regarding potential data misuse have threatened this nascent field. Here, we review the literature on the use of social media data in environmental and sustainability research. We find that they can play a novel and irreplaceable role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by allowing a nuanced understanding of human-nature interactions at scale, observing the dynamics of social-ecological change, and investigating the co-construction of nature values. We reveal threats to data access and highlight scientific responsibility to address trade-offs between research transparency and privacy protection, while promoting inclusivity. This contributes to a wider societal debate of social media data for sustainability science and for the common good.
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