Abstract
A growing body of literature has explored the psychological benefits associated with contact with nature. Many studies have employed experimental designs that compared various levels of nature exposure, or have used exogenous neighborhood-based measures of nature. The exact places where adolescents visit, as well as their street-level experiences with nature, remain unexplored. As a result, we know very little about the extent to which adolescents' actual exposure to nature is related to their moods. In this study, we examined the daily activities and moods of 155 adolescents from central Illinois to understand the association between exposure to varying concentrations of nature and adolescents' mood. Each participant wore a Global Positioning System (GPS) device for four consecutive days and completed an adapted Profile of Mood States questionnaire at the end of each day. We calculated the concentration of nature participants were exposed to by assessing the Google Street View images at the locations they visited throughout each day. Multi-level modeling analysis revealed significant associations between the concentration of nature and daily mood in participating adolescents, even after controlling for intra-individual and inter-individual level confounding variables. This relationship did not vary by demographic or socio-economic background. We discuss the implications for greening urban public space and resurrecting time for adolescents to engage in unstructured activities. The methods used in this study—combining GPS tracking and environmental exposure assessment—can be applied to a variety of research studies regarding human-landscape relationships.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 33-43 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Landscape and Urban Planning |
| Volume | 173 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2018 |
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Keywords
- Adolescents’ mood
- Concentration of nature
- Everyday settings
- GPS tracking
- Google Street View
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Cite this
Moving beyond the neighborhood : Daily exposure to nature and adolescents’ mood. / Li, Dongying; Deal, Brian M; Zhou, Xiaolu; Slavenas, Marcus; Sullivan, William C.
In: Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 173, 05.2018, p. 33-43.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Moving beyond the neighborhood
T2 - Daily exposure to nature and adolescents’ mood
AU - Li, Dongying
AU - Deal, Brian M
AU - Zhou, Xiaolu
AU - Slavenas, Marcus
AU - Sullivan, William C
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - A growing body of literature has explored the psychological benefits associated with contact with nature. Many studies have employed experimental designs that compared various levels of nature exposure, or have used exogenous neighborhood-based measures of nature. The exact places where adolescents visit, as well as their street-level experiences with nature, remain unexplored. As a result, we know very little about the extent to which adolescents' actual exposure to nature is related to their moods. In this study, we examined the daily activities and moods of 155 adolescents from central Illinois to understand the association between exposure to varying concentrations of nature and adolescents' mood. Each participant wore a Global Positioning System (GPS) device for four consecutive days and completed an adapted Profile of Mood States questionnaire at the end of each day. We calculated the concentration of nature participants were exposed to by assessing the Google Street View images at the locations they visited throughout each day. Multi-level modeling analysis revealed significant associations between the concentration of nature and daily mood in participating adolescents, even after controlling for intra-individual and inter-individual level confounding variables. This relationship did not vary by demographic or socio-economic background. We discuss the implications for greening urban public space and resurrecting time for adolescents to engage in unstructured activities. The methods used in this study—combining GPS tracking and environmental exposure assessment—can be applied to a variety of research studies regarding human-landscape relationships.
AB - A growing body of literature has explored the psychological benefits associated with contact with nature. Many studies have employed experimental designs that compared various levels of nature exposure, or have used exogenous neighborhood-based measures of nature. The exact places where adolescents visit, as well as their street-level experiences with nature, remain unexplored. As a result, we know very little about the extent to which adolescents' actual exposure to nature is related to their moods. In this study, we examined the daily activities and moods of 155 adolescents from central Illinois to understand the association between exposure to varying concentrations of nature and adolescents' mood. Each participant wore a Global Positioning System (GPS) device for four consecutive days and completed an adapted Profile of Mood States questionnaire at the end of each day. We calculated the concentration of nature participants were exposed to by assessing the Google Street View images at the locations they visited throughout each day. Multi-level modeling analysis revealed significant associations between the concentration of nature and daily mood in participating adolescents, even after controlling for intra-individual and inter-individual level confounding variables. This relationship did not vary by demographic or socio-economic background. We discuss the implications for greening urban public space and resurrecting time for adolescents to engage in unstructured activities. The methods used in this study—combining GPS tracking and environmental exposure assessment—can be applied to a variety of research studies regarding human-landscape relationships.
KW - Adolescents’ mood
KW - Concentration of nature
KW - Everyday settings
KW - GPS tracking
KW - Google Street View
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044658736&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85044658736&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.01.009
DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.01.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85044658736
VL - 173
SP - 33
EP - 43
JO - Landscape and Urban Planning
JF - Landscape and Urban Planning
SN - 0169-2046
ER -