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Nature at Work: The Effects of Day-to-Day Nature Contact on Workers’ Stress and Psychological Well-Being
Interior shot of the Spheres. Image source: AshlynG/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0 (G A, 2018). Objectives Chronic stress and burnout are key health issues for office workers that may contribute to a myriad of poor health outcomes. The presence of natural elements may improve psychological well-being in workers but the number of existing studies is relatively low, and more longitudinal research is specifically needed to assess how characteristics of workers’ day-to-day environments may impact mental health outcomes like affect, depression and stress. This report outlines a multi-study investigation of workers at Amazon, a multinational e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington, USA, and the mental health benefits associated with exposure to nature. Methods In Study 1, participants (n = 153) responded to a cross-sectional survey that assessed the association of self-reported visitation to an indoor company greenspace with psychological well-being including symptoms of depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and stress. In Study 2, a subset of participants from Study 1 (n = 33) completed multiple surveys in a 2-week period that assessed the association of the naturalness of their current environments with their state levels of psychological well-being. Results We found contact with more natural outdoor environments was significantly associated with reduced state anxiety, after adjusting for activity type, location, and participants’ trait levels of nature relatedness. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that nature contact in everyday life is significantly associated with decreased levels of state anxiety. More research is needed to investigate the role of nature contact as a potential intervention in the workplace for improved mental health.
Read moreNatural Outdoor Environments and Mental Health: Stress as a Possible Mechanism
Fig. 1. Adjusted models for exposure to NOE (both residential availability and contact with NOE) and average evening week values of mental health. Note: Linear regression models (coefficient and 95% CI reported) for all the outcomes with the exception of sleep quality that was modelled as a Poisson model (IRR and 95% CI reported). Models include neighbourhood socioeconomic status, city, gender, age and education level as covariates. Estimates in italics indicate that contact with NOE is statistically significantly associated to the outcome in the expected direction. * Statistically significant associations (p-value≤ 0.05). NOE for Natural Outdoor Environments. Introduction: Better mental health has been associated with exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE). However, comprehensive studies including several indicators of exposure and outcomes, potential effect modifiers and mediators are scarce. Objectives: We used novel, objective measures to explore the relationships between exposure to NOE (i.e. residential availability and contact) and different indicators of mental health, and possible modifiers and mediators. Methods: A nested cross-sectional study was conducted in: Barcelona, Spain; Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom; Doetinchem, Netherlands; Kaunas, Lithuania. Participants’ exposure to NOE (including both surrounding greenness and green and/or blue spaces) was measured in terms of (a) amount in their residential environment (using Geographical Information Systems) and (b) their contact with NOE (using smartphone data collected over seven days). Self-reported information was collected for mental health (psychological well-being, sleep quality, vitality, and somatisation), and potential effect modifiers (gender, age, education level, and city) and mediators (perceived stress and social contacts), with additional objective NOE physical activity (potential mediator) derived from smartphone accelerometers. Results: Analysis of data from 406 participants showed no statistically significant associations linking mental health and residential NOE exposure. However, NOE contact, especially surrounding greenness, was statistically significantly tied to better mental health. There were indications that these relationships were stronger for males, younger people, low-medium educated, and Doetinchem residents. Perceived stress was a mediator of most associations, and physical activity and social contacts were not. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that contact with NOE benefits mental health. Our results also suggest that having contact with NOE that can facilitate stress reduction could be particularly beneficial.
Read morePositive Health Effects of the Natural Outdoor Environment in Typical Populations in Different Regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE): A Study Programme Protocol
Figure 1. Interdependencies of different parts of the PHENOTYPE project. Introduction Growing evidence suggests that close contact with nature brings benefits to human health and well-being, but the proposed mechanisms are still not well understood and the associations with health remain uncertain. The Positive Health Effects of the Natural Outdoor environment in Typical Populations in different regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE) project investigates the interconnections between natural outdoor environments and better human health and well-being. Aims and Methods The PHENOTYPE project explores the proposed underlying mechanisms at work (stress reduction/restorative function, physical activity, social interaction, exposure to environmental hazards) and examines the associations with health outcomes for different population groups. It implements conventional and new innovative high-tech methods to characterise the natural environment in terms of quality and quantity. Preventive as well as therapeutic effects of contact with the natural environment are being covered. PHENOTYPE further addresses implications for land-use planning and green space management. The main innovative part of the study is the evaluation of possible short-term and long-term associations of green space and health and the possible underlying mechanisms in four different countries (each with quite a different type of green space and a different use), using the same methodology, in one research programme. This type of holistic approach has not been undertaken before. Furthermore there are technological innovations such as the use of remote sensing and smartphones in the assessment of green space. Conclusions The project will produce a more robust evidence base on links between exposure to natural outdoor environment and human health and well-being, in addition to a better integration of human health needs into land-use planning and green space management in rural as well as urban areas.
Read moreA Study of Community Design, Greenness, and Physical Activity in Children using Satellite, GPS and Accelerometer Data
Fig. 1. Geovisualization of a child’s personal monitoring points show MVPA occurring within green areas and during active transport (* home points shifted for confidentiality). This study examined relationships between greenness exposure and free-living physical activity behavior of children in smart growth and conventionally designed communities. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to quantify children’s (n=208) greenness exposure at 30-s epoch accelerometer and GPS data points. A generalized linear mixed model with a kernel density smoothing term for addressing spatial autocorrelation was fit to analyze residential neighborhood activity data. Excluding activity at home and during school-hours, an epoch-level analysis found momentary greenness exposure was positively associated with the likelihood of contemporaneous moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This association was stronger for smart growth residents who experienced a 39% increase in odds of MVPA for a 10th to 90th percentile increase in exposure to greenness (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.36–1.44). An individual-level analysis found children who experienced >20 min of daily exposure to greener spaces (>90th percentile) engaged in nearly 5 times the daily rate of MVPA of children with nearly zero daily exposure to greener spaces (95% CI 3.09–7.20).
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