Developing a model linking self-reported nature exposure and positive body image: A study protocol for the body image in nature survey (BINS)

Nature, urban, or treadmill: How walking environment impacts state body satisfaction and appreciation and the role of body sanctification

This study examined the effects of walking environments on state body satisfaction and state body appreciation and the potential moderating role of body sanctification. Participants included 189 undergraduates from a private Christian University in the Southwestern US, randomly assigned to walk for 20-minutes in a natural, outdoors built, or indoors built environment. Participants completed measures of state body satisfaction and state body appreciation prior to and immediately following the walk. Those who walked in nature experienced increased state body satisfaction but not state body appreciation compared to those who walked in an indoor built environment. Theistic sanctification of the body was associated with greater state body appreciation and moderated the relationship between walking location and body appreciation. Participants who sanctified their bodies to a greater extent experienced increases in body appreciation when walking in a natural environment compared to an indoor built environment relative to those who were lower in body sanctification. Nontheistic sanctification of the body was associated with higher state body satisfaction and state body appreciation but did not moderate links between walking location and these outcomes. Overall, walking in nature is beneficial to body satisfaction and theistic sanctification of the body may bolster these effects.

Associations between nature exposure and body image: A critical, narrative review of the evidence

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers are having to deal with the negative impact of body image concerns in populations globally. One cost-effective way of promoting healthier body image outcomes is through exposure to natural environments. A growing body of research has shown that spending time in, interacting with, and even just looking at natural environments can promote healthier body image outcomes. In this narrative review, I consider the different forms of evidence documenting an association between nature exposure and body image (i.e., cross-sectional and mediational, experimental and quasi-experimental, comparative, prospective, experience sampling, and qualitative research). Beyond this, I shine a critical light on the available evidence, highlighting concerns with methodological (i.e., who research has focused on and what types of natural environments have been considered), psychometric (i.e., how body image and nature exposure are measured), and conceptual issues (how the association is explained). I conclude that, although there are issues affecting the way the existing body of research is to be understood, there are reasons to be hopeful that nature exposure can be leveraged to promote healthier body image outcomes in diverse populations.

Does a nature walk improve state body appreciation in children?

The available evidence suggests that exposure to natural environments promotes more positive body image, but to date this research has not considered impacts on children. To answer this question, we invited two groups of children in Poland - matched in terms of age (range = 6 to 12 years), gender identities, and racialised status - to go for a group walk in either a natural environment (n = 80) or a built environment (n = 81). Before and after the walks, participants were asked to complete an adapted, state version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children. The results of a mixed analysis of variance indicated that children who went for a walk in the natural environment reported a significant improvement to state body appreciation (d = 0.35), whereas those who went for a walk in the built environment did not (d = 0.04). The results also showed no significant impact of gender identity (girls vs. boys) or age (middle vs. late childhood) on this finding. These results show for the first time that nature exposure may help to improve body image outcomes in children, at least in the immediate term, which may prove beneficial for future interventionist work.

Assessing nature exposure: a study on the reliability and validity of a Portuguese version of the nature exposure scale

Introduction

Engaging with nature has been widely acknowledged for its positive impact on well-being. Traditionally, assessments of nature exposure focus on estimating green space exposure and outdoor time. However, the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) offers a unique approach by evaluating the quality of nature experiences, encompassing both deliberate and spontaneous encounters.

Methods

This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the NES in the context of Portugal. Exploratory Factor Analysis (PCA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were employed to examine the underlying structure of the scale. Additionally, reliability assessments, along with tests of convergent and divergent validity, were conducted. Data were collected from a sample of 558 adults and 241 adolescents between 2016 and 2018.

Results

The findings revealed strong internal consistency of the NES, supported by acceptable correlation values and robust factor loadings within a unidimensional model. The scale effectively predicted variations in nature exposure across diverse professional activities.

Discussion

In summary, the 4-item NES emerged as a reliable tool for assessing nature exposure in various settings, effectively bridging a gap in the Portuguese context. The scale demonstrated potential for cross-cultural research and was particularly adept at predicting nature exposure in different professional contexts. The results suggest that the NES can enhance our understanding of the impact of nature on well-being in diverse cultural settings.

Conclusion

The study underscores the reliability of the NES in assessing nature exposure in Portugal, paving the way for further exploration in Portuguese-speaking regions. The scale holds promise for advancing research on the relationship between nature and well-being, contributing valuable insights across different cultural contexts.

Green Social Prescribing in Practice: A Case Study of Walsall, UK

This paper presents a case study of Green Social Prescribing (GSP) in Walsall, a medium-sized urban area located in the West Midlands, UK. GSP is a means of enabling health professionals to refer people to a range of local non-clinical nature-based activities, e.g., community gardening and conservation volunteering. As a new practice to address multiple challenges in health and sustainability, GSP has been promoted by the UK government and the NHS in the past few years. There is as yet limited evidence and knowledge about how this approach is implemented at a local level. This paper addresses this gap of knowledge, by exploring how GSP is implemented in Walsall as a case study. Based on extensive engagement and research activities with the local partners to collect data, this paper reveals the local contexts of GSP, the referral pathways, and people's lived experience, discussing the challenges, barriers, and opportunities in delivering GSP at the local level. This study suggests that a more collaborative and genuine place-based approach is essential, and alongside GSP, investment into infrastructure is needed to move the health paradigm further from 'prevention' to 'promotion' so that more people can benefit from what nature can offer.

Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research.

"I'll never sacrifice my well-being again:" The journey from negative to positive body image among women who perceive their body to deviate from societal norms

We conducted one-on-one interviews with 25 Canadian cisgender women who self-identified as having (a) a condition or characteristic causing their body to deviate from societal norms and (b) overcome a negative body image to develop a positive body image. Using coding reliability thematic analyses, we identified 12 themes (italicised) involving processes and experiences associated with shifts in body image. Women had moments that sparked and confirmed the importance of building positive body image (Enough is Enough). They experienced accepting Social Connections and Community and Accessed Critical Knowledge conducive to body positivity. They engaged in Joyful Movement, Adaptive Appearance Investment, and Joyful and Intuitive Eating. They identified how Changing Societal Norms, Becoming Older and Wiser, COVID-19 Pandemic, having Illnesses and Medical Conditions, Pregnancy and Motherhood, and Spirituality, Religion, and Nature affected their body image, values, and valued action. As women engaged in these processes and experiences, shifts occurred in their perceptions of their embodied selves in the world, represented by four "Bigger Lessons:" I Am More Than My Looks, I Am More Than My Body, I am More Than My Self, and I am Inherently Worthy of Love, Respect, and Joy. These findings can inform body image programmes and clinical interventions.

Siblings, shopping, and sustainability: Birth-order differences in green consumption

Several studies have examined the role of birth order in shaping human personality, but fewer have tested this variable in relation to other pressing issues. We conducted a birth-order study on green consumption, which enabled us to detect a small-to-moderate effect size equivalent to r = 0.15 or d = 0.30 with sufficient statistical power (N = 335). To capture green consumption, participants indicated their tendency to express the value of environmental protection through purchases and consumption behaviors. Firstborns (vs. laterborns) consistently expressed lower concerns linked to environmental protection in their purchase patterns. While the effect size of this finding was small-to-moderate by conventional standards and in direct contrast to the findings from a recent article on the same topic, these results could still be informative to address challenges associated with climate change considering the number of individuals with siblings in the world and the ease with which birth-order data can be collected.

Rural-urban differences in body appreciation and associations with life satisfaction in adults from Sabah, Malaysia

Studies of body appreciation have typically focused on measurement of the construct in urban populations and there remains very little research on body appreciation in rural communities. To fill this gap, the present study examined rural-urban differences in body appreciation in an adult Kadazan-Dusun sample from the state of Sabah in Malaysia. Participants from rural (n = 215) and urban (n = 219) locales in the West Coast administrative district of Sabah were asked to complete Malay versions of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and to provide their demographic details. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis evidenced both partial metric invariance (by allowing loadings for three items to vary) and partial scalar invariance (by freeing the intercept for one item) on the BAS-2. Between-group analyses indicated that rural participants had significantly greater body appreciation than urban participants overall. Additionally, urban men had significantly greater body appreciation than urban women, but there was no gender difference in the rural subsample. Finally, correlational analyses indicated that body appreciation was significantly associated with life satisfaction in both the rural and urban subsamples. The present results highlight the importance of further considering the phenomenology of body appreciation in rural communities.

Hiking, indoor biking, and body liking: a cross-sectional study examining the link between physical activity arenas and adults' body appreciation

BACKGROUND

Body appreciation might serve as a protective factor for developing eating disorders and is associated with participation in physical activity. Less is known about whether various arenas for physical activity may be linked to body appreciation. Therefore, the current study sought to (1) identify potential associations between physical activity level and arenas for physical activity, connectedness with nature, self-compassion, and body appreciation in adults, and (2) explore physical activity level and arenas, connectedness with nature, and self-compassion as explanatory factors for body appreciation.

METHODS

A total of 360 adult Norwegian inhabitants (75% women, mean (SD) age 42.58 (12.30) yrs) responded to an online questionnaire. Instruments included the Body Appreciation Scale, the Connectedness with Nature Scale, and the Self-Compassion Scale.

RESULTS

The percentage of participants who engaged in various physical activity arenas were 98.5% for nature, 57.5% for fitness centers, and 43.0% for organized sports. Small, positive associations were found between body appreciation and the frequency of using fitness centers and nature as physical activity arenas. Self-compassion, connectedness with nature, and frequency of using fitness centers and nature as physical activity arenas explained 39% of the variance in body appreciation.

DISCUSSION

The importance of both fitness centers and nature as arenas for physical activity to explain body appreciation was surprising and might reflect different use of fitness centers among adults compared to younger age groups.

CONCLUSION

Physical activity at fitness centers and in nature were positively associated with body appreciation in adults. Self-compassion, connectedness with nature, and using fitness centers and nature as arenas for physical activity, were found to explain variation in body appreciation in adults.

The Impact of a Woodland Walk on Body Image: A Field Experiment and an Assessment of Dispositional and Environmental Determinants

Studies have shown that nature exposure is associated with a more positive body image, but field studies remain relatively infrequent. Here, we examine the impact of a woodland walk on an index of state positive body image (i.e., state body appreciation), as well as dispositional and environmental determinants of body image improvements. Eighty-seven Polish women went for a walk in Cygański Las, an ancient woodland, and completed a measure of state body appreciation before and after the walk. As hypothesised, state body appreciation was significantly higher post-walk compared to pre-walk (d = 0.56). Additionally, we found that the trait of self-compassion-but not the traits of connectedness to nature, perceived aesthetic qualities of the woodland, or subjective restoration-was significantly associated with larger improvements in state body appreciation. These results suggest that even relatively brief exposure to nature results in elevated state body appreciation, with the dispositional trait of self-compassion being associated with larger effects.

The Mediating Effect of Nature Restorativeness, Stress Level, and Nature Connectedness in the Association between Nature Exposure and Quality of Life

This study aimed to test the mediating effects of nature restorativeness, stress, and nature connectedness in the association between nature exposure and quality of life (QoL). Urban and rural Lithuanian inhabitants (n = 924; 73.6% were women), mean age of 40.0 ± 12.4 years (age range of 18–79) participated in the study. In total, 31% of the respondents lived in rural areas. Study participants completed an online survey form with measures on sociodemographic factors, nature proximity, nature exposure, nature connectedness, and nature restorativeness, stress, and QoL assessed by the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Questionnaire’s (WHOQOL-BREF). Path analysis was conducted to test the mediating effects of nature restorativeness, stress, and nature connectedness in the model of nature exposure and QoL. Nature exposure was directly associated with a greater QoL (β = 0.14; B = 2.60; SE = 0.57; p < 0.001) and mediated the association between nature proximity and QoL. Nature restorativeness and lower stress levels were mediators between nature exposure and QoL. Nature connectedness was a mediator between nature exposure and QoL. A path model was invariant across genders and the urban and rural place of residence groups: patterns of loadings of the pathways were found to be similar. Nature restorativeness (β = 0.10–0.12; p < 0.01) had a positive effect on the psychological, physical, social, and environmental domains of QoL. Connectedness to nature positively predicted psychological (β = 0.079; p < 0.05) and environmental (β = 0.082; p < 0.05) domains of QoL. Enhancing nature exposure and nature connectedness might help strengthen QoL in urban and rural inhabitants.