Momentary mood response to natural outdoor environments in four European cities

Exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) has been shown in population-level studies to reduce anxiety and psychological distress. This study investigated how exposure to one's everyday natural outdoor environments over one week influenced mood among residents of four European cities i...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kondo, Michelle C., Triguero Mas, Margarita, 1985-, Donaire González, David, Seto, Edmund, Valentín, Antònia, Hurst, Gemma, Carrasco Turigas, Glòria, Masterson, Daniel, Ambros, Albert, Ellis, Naomi, Swart, Wim, Davis, Nora, Maas, Jolanda, Jerrett, Michael, Gidlow, Christopher J., Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/43417
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/43417
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105237
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ecological momentary assessment
Green space and health
Mood
Descripción
Sumario:Exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) has been shown in population-level studies to reduce anxiety and psychological distress. This study investigated how exposure to one's everyday natural outdoor environments over one week influenced mood among residents of four European cities including Barcelona (Spain), Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), Doetinchem (The Netherlands) and Kaunas (Lithuania). Participants (n = 368) wore a smartphone equipped with software applications to track location and mood (using mobile ecological momentary assessment (EMA) software), for seven consecutive days. We estimated random-effects ordered logistic regression models to examine the association between mood (positive and negative affect), and exposure to green space, represented by two binary variables indicating exposure versus no exposure to NOE using GPS tracking and satellite and aerial imagery, 10 and 30 min prior to participants' completing the EMA. Models were adjusted for home city, day of the week, hour of the day, EMA survey type, residential NOE exposure, and sex, age, education level, mental health status and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. In addition, we tested for heterogeneity of effect by city, sex, age, residential NOE exposure and mental health status. Within 10 min of NOE exposure, compared to non-exposure, we found that overall there was a positive relationship with positive affect (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.81) of EMA surveys, and non-significant negative association with negative affect (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.58, 1.10). When stratifying, associations were consistently found for Stoke-on-Trent inhabitants and men, while findings by age group were inconsistent. Weaker and less consistent associations were found for exposure 30 min prior to EMA. Our findings support increasing evidence of psychological and mental health benefits of exposure to natural outdoor environments, especially among urban populations such as those included in our study.