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Visiting green space is associated with mental health and vitality: A cross-sectional study in four european cities
van den Berg, Magdalena van Poppel, Mireille van Kamp, Irene Andrusaityte, Sandra Balseviciene, Birute Cirach, Marta Danileviciute, Asta Ellis, Naomi Hurst, Gemma Masterson, Daniel
van den Berg, Magdalena
van Poppel, Mireille
van Kamp, Irene
Andrusaityte, Sandra
Balseviciene, Birute
Cirach, Marta
Danileviciute, Asta
Ellis, Naomi
Hurst, Gemma
Masterson, Daniel
Author
van den Berg, Magdalena
van Poppel, Mireille
van Kamp, Irene
Andrusaityte, Sandra
Balseviciene, Birute
Cirach, Marta
Danileviciute, Asta
Ellis, Naomi
Hurst, Gemma
Masterson, Daniel
Smith, Graham
Triguero-Mas, Margarita
Uzdanaviciute, Inga
de Wit, Puck
van Mechelen, Willem
Gidlow, Christopher
Gražulevičienė, Regina
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Kruize, Hanneke
Maas, Jolanda
van Poppel, Mireille
van Kamp, Irene
Andrusaityte, Sandra
Balseviciene, Birute
Cirach, Marta
Danileviciute, Asta
Ellis, Naomi
Hurst, Gemma
Masterson, Daniel
Smith, Graham
Triguero-Mas, Margarita
Uzdanaviciute, Inga
de Wit, Puck
van Mechelen, Willem
Gidlow, Christopher
Gražulevičienė, Regina
Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.
Kruize, Hanneke
Maas, Jolanda
Abstract
Many epidemiological studies have found that people living in environments with more green space report better physical and mental health than those with less green space. However, the association between visits to green space and mental health has seldom been studied. The current study explored the associations between time spent in green spaces by purposeful visits and perceived mental health and vitality in four different European cities, and to what extent gender, age, level of education, attitude towards nature and childhood nature experience moderate these associations. Data was gathered using a questionnaire administered in four European cities (total n=3748). Multilevel analyses showed significant positive associations between time spent visiting green spaces and mental health and vitality in the pooled data, as well as across the four cities. Significant effect modification was found for level of education and childhood nature experience. The findings confirm the hypothesis that more time spent in green space is associated with higher scores on mental health and vitality scales, independent of cultural and climatic contexts.
Keywords
natural environment, visits to green spaces, mental health, vitality, cross-sectional study
Date
2016
Type
Journal article
Journal
Health and Place
Book
Volume
38
Issue
Page Range
8-15
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled