Beyond "bluespace" and "greenspace": A narrative review of possible health benefits from exposure to other natural landscapes

Health and wellbeing benefits of urban forests in winter: a narrative review

Urban trees and green spaces, hereafter, urban forests, are known to contribute to human health and wellbeing. However, research has predominantly focused on warm seasons. To understand whether these benefits extend to winter months, when vegetation is dormant, we conducted a narrative review of the health outcomes associated with urban forests in winter in cities with cold climates. We synthesized findings from 21 studies originating from Asia, Europe and North America. The most studied health outcomes were mental health, physical activity and physiological relaxation, all showing a positive relationship with urban forest exposure. These finding appear similar to those observed in warmer seasons. However, more studies are needed, on a diversity of health outcomes, to draw more robust conclusions in this emerging research field. Future research on urban forests should therefore consider winter and the effect of seasonality to improve health and wellbeing of urban dwellers in all seasons.

The greener the living environment, the better the health? Examining the effects of multiple green exposure metrics on physical activity and health among young students

The sedentary and less active lifestyle of modern college students has a significant impact on the physical and mental well-being of the college community. Campus Green Spaces (GSs) are crucial in promoting physical activity and improving students' health. However, previous research has focused on evaluating campuses as a whole, without considering the diverse spatial scenarios within the campus environment. Accordingly, this study focused on the young people's residential scenario in university and constructed a framework including a comprehensive set of objective and subjective GSs exposure metrics. A systematic, objective exposure assessment framework ranging from 2D (GSs areas), and 2.5D (GSs visibility) to 3D (GSs volume) was innovatively developed using spatial analysis, deep learning technology, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) measurement technology. Subjective exposure metrics incorporated GSs visiting frequency, GSs visiting duration, and GSs perceived quality. Our cross-sectional study was based on 820 university students in Nanjing, China. Subjective measures of GSs exposure, physical activity, and health status were obtained through self-reported questionnaires. The Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used to evaluate the associations between GSs exposure, physical activity, and perceived health. Physical activity and social cohesion were considered as mediators, and path analysis based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to disentangle the mechanisms linking GSs exposure to the health status of college students. We found that (1) 2D indicator suggested significant associations with health in the 100m buffer, and the potential underlying mechanisms were: GSs area → Physical activity → Social cohesion → Physical health → Mental health; GSs area → Physical activity → Social cohesion → Mental health. (2) Subjective GSs exposure indicators were more relevant in illustrating exposure-response relationships than objective ones. This study can clarify the complex nexus and mechanisms between campus GSs, physical activity, and health, and provide a practical reference for health-oriented campus GSs planning.

Construction of the "Full Path" of restorative effects on older adults' mental health in parks under seasonal differences: taking Changchun as an example

With the aging and older adults' mental health problems in China, more attention has been paid to the restorative environment. As an important restorative environment in the city, the mental health restorative effect of park environment has been confirmed. However, further exploration is needed to determine whether winter parks have positive effects, their differences from non-winter parks, and the specific pathways of these effects. Therefore, this study constructed a "full path" for the restorative effects of older adults' mental health in parks under seasonal differences, including four components: perceived environment, affective feedback, behavioral feedback, and restorative effect, forming four pathways. Based on this, this study obtained 211 and 240 sample data in winter and non-winter parks, and verified the validity of various hypotheses and mediation paths using structural equation models. It found that: (1) overall restorative effects existed in different seasons; (2) in winter, perceived environmental assessment was not a direct antecedent of restorative effects, and affective feedback and Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) feedback were important mediating factors, and the chain mediated pathway existed; (3) in non-winter, both direct, indirect and chain mediated effects existed, and affective feedback and Low Physical Activity (LPA) feedback were important mediating factors. Based on this, this study divided parks into "affective inducing" and "behavioral promoting" types, and proposed corresponding planning priorities to positively intervene in planning and design practices.

Geodiversity data for Europe

Geodiversity is an essential part of nature's diversity. However, geodiversity is insufficiently understood in terms of its spatial distribution and its relationship to biodiversity over large spatial extents. Here, we present European geodiversity data at resolutions of 1 km and 10 km. We assess terrestrial geodiversity quantitatively as a richness variable (georichness) using a commonly employed grid-based approach. The data incorporate aspects of geological, pedological, geomorphological and hydrological diversity, which are also available as separate richness variables. To evaluate the data, we correlated European georichness with empirically tested national georichness data from Finland, revealing a positive correlation at both 1 km (rp = 0.37, p < 0.001) and 10 km (rp = 0.59, p < 0.001) resolutions. We also demonstrate potential uses of the European data by correlating georichness with vascular plant species richness in two contrasting example areas: Finland and Switzerland. The positive correlations between georichness and species richness in Finland (rp = 0.34, p < 0.001) and Switzerland (rp = 0.26, p < 0.001) further support the use of our data in geodiversity-biodiversity research. Moreover, there is great potential beyond geodiversity-biodiversity questions, as the data can be exploited across different regions, ecosystems and scales. These geodiversity data provide an insight on abiotic diversity in Europe and establish a quantitative large-scale geodiversity assessment method applicable worldwide. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Geodiversity for science and society'.

Residential greenness and lower breast and prostate cancer incidence: Evidence from a retrospective cohort study of 977,644 participants from Israel

BACKGROUND

There is limited evidence on the associations between residential greenness and cancer incidence in longitudinal studies.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between weighted mean residential greenness exposure and cancer incidence.

METHODS

This is a registry based retrospective cohort study of 977,644 participants. The residential greenness exposure was estimated for every participant, as the weighted mean residential greenness exposure. This was based on the mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the residential small geographic area and the duration of the residence in this area. Cancer incidence cases included consecutive newly diagnosed cases of primary cancer. Analyses were conducted for all cancer sites, lung cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma-skin cancer. Cox regression models were used to evaluate the crude and adjusted associations (hazards ratios (HR) and its 95 % confidence intervals (CIs)) between tertiles of residential greenness and cancer incidence. Further adjusted models to nitrogen oxides (NOx) were estimated.

RESULTS

After adjustment to covariates, exposure to the highest tertile of residential greenness, compared to the lowest, were associated with lower risk for all cancer sites (HR = 0.88, 95 % CI: 0.86-0.90), breast cancer (HR = 0.85, 95 % CI: 0.80-0.89) and prostate cancer (HR = 0.85, 95 % CI: 0.79-0.91). In addition, lower risk were observed for the middle tertile of exposure and all cancer sites (HR = 0.88, 95 % CI: 0.86-0.90), breast cancer (HR = 0.88, 95 % CI: 0.84-0.92) and prostate cancer (HR = 0.83, 95 % CI: 0.79-0.89). There was no evidence for mediation by air pollution (NOx).

DISCUSSION

Residential greenness demonstrated beneficial associations with lower risk for all cancers, breast and prostate cancers. If our observations will be replicated, it may present a useful avenue for public-health intervention to reduce cancer burden through the provision of greenness exposure.

The economics of nature's healing touch: A systematic review and conceptual framework of green space, pharmaceutical prescriptions, and healthcare expenditure associations

Green spaces play a crucial role in promoting sustainable and healthy lives. Recent evidence shows that green space also may reduce the need for healthcare, prescription medications, and associated costs. This systematic review provides the first comprehensive assessment of the available literature examining green space exposure and its associations with healthcare prescriptions and expenditures. We applied Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to search MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for observational studies published in English through May 6, 2023. A quality assessment of the included studies was conducted using the Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) tool, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) assessment was used to evaluate the overall quality of evidence. Our search retrieved 26 studies that met the inclusion criteria and were included in our review. Among these, 20 studies (77 % of the total) showed beneficial associations of green space exposure with healthcare prescriptions or expenditures. However, most studies had risks of bias, and the overall strength of evidence for both outcomes was limited. Based on our findings and related bodies of literature, we present a conceptual framework to explain the possible associations and complex mechanisms underlying green space and healthcare outcomes. The framework differs from existing green space and health models by including upstream factors related to healthcare access (i.e., rurality and socioeconomic status), which may flip the direction of associations. Additional research with lower risks of bias is necessary to validate this framework and better understand the potential for green space to reduce healthcare prescriptions and expenditures.

Tracking Progress Toward Urban Nature Targets Using Landcover and Vegetation Indices: A Global Study for the 96 C40 Cities

Access to urban natural space, including blue and greenspace, is associated with improved health. In 2021, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group set 2030 Urban Nature Declaration (UND) targets: "Quality Total Cover" (30% green area within each city) and "Equitable Spatial Distribution" (70% of the population living close to natural space). We evaluate progress toward these targets in the 96 C40 cities using globally available, high-resolution data sets for landcover and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We use the European Space Agency (ESA)'s WorldCover data set to define greenspace with discrete landcover categories and ESA's Sentinel-2A to calculate NDVI, adding the "open water" landcover category to characterize total natural space. We compare 2020 levels of urban green and natural space to the two UND targets and predict the city-specific NDVI level consistent with the UND targets using linear regressions. The 96-city mean NDVI was 0.538 (range: 0.148, 0.739). Most (80%) cities meet the Quality Total Cover target, and nearly half (47%) meet the Equitable Spatial Distribution target. Landcover-measured greenspace and total natural space were strong (mean R 2 = 0.826) and moderate (mean R 2 = 0.597) predictors of NDVI and our NDVI-based natural space proximity measure, respectively. The 96-city mean predicted NDVI value of meeting the UND targets was 0.478 (range: 0.352-0.565) for Quality Total Cover and 0.660 (range: 0.498-0.767) for Equitable Spatial Distribution. Our translation of the area- and access-based metrics common in urban natural space targets into the NDVI metric used in epidemiology allows for quantifying the health benefits of achieving such targets.

How can plant-enriched natural environments benefit human health: a narrative review of relevant theories

Plant-enriched environments, the most common terrestrial landscapes, are usually coded as "green space" in urban studies. To understand how these natural environments can benefit human health, many theories have been developed, such as the well-known Attention Restoration Theory. Nowadays, more theories are emerging with regard to various and complex health dimensions. In this context, we searched online databases (from 2000 to 2022) and conducted a narrative review aiming to introduce relevant theories concerning psychological (e.g. Perceptual Fluency Account and Conditioned Restoration Theory), physiological (e.g. volatile organic compounds and environmental microbiomes), and behavioural (e.g. physical activity and social contact) perspectives. We also slightly mentioned some limitations and directions to be considered when using these theories. These results may offer general readers insights into the value of nature exposure and also help relevant researchers with study design and result interpretation.

Associations of nature contact with emotional ill-being and well-being: the role of emotion regulation

Nature contact has associations with emotional ill-being and well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are not fully understood. We hypothesised that increased adaptive and decreased maladaptive emotion regulation strategies would be a pathway linking nature contact to ill-being and well-being. Using data from a survey of 600 U.S.-based adults administered online in 2022, we conducted structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. We found that (1) frequency of nature contact was significantly associated with lesser emotional ill-being and greater emotional well-being, (2) effective emotion regulation was significantly associated with lesser emotional ill-being and greater emotional well-being, and (3) the associations of higher frequency of nature contact with these benefits were partly explained via emotion regulation. Moreover, we found a nonlinear relationship for the associations of duration of nature contact with some outcomes, with a rise in benefits up to certain amounts of time, and a levelling off after these points. These findings support and extend previous work that demonstrates that the associations of nature contact with emotional ill-being and well-being may be partly explained by changes in emotion regulation.

Measuring the 3-30-300 rule to help cities meet nature access thresholds

The 3-30-300 rule offers benchmarks for cities to promote equitable nature access. It dictates that individuals should see three trees from their dwelling, have 30 % tree canopy in their neighborhood, and live within 300 m of a high-quality green space. Implementing this demands thorough measurement, monitoring, and evaluation methods, yet little guidance is currently available to pursue these actions. To overcome this gap, we employed an expert-based consensus approach to review the available ways to measure 3-30-300 as well as each measure's strengths and weaknesses. We described seven relevant data and processes: vegetation indices, street level analyses, tree inventories, questionnaires, window view analyses, land cover maps, and green space maps. Based on the reviewed strengths and weaknesses of each measure, we presented a suitability matrix to link recommended measures with each component of the rule. These recommendations included surveys and window-view analyses for the '3 component', high-resolution land cover maps for the '30 component', and green space maps with network analyses for the '300 component'. These methods, responsive to local situations and resources, not only implement the 3-30-300 rule but foster broader dialogue on local desires and requirements. Consequently, these techniques can guide strategic investments in urban greening for health, equity, biodiversity, and climate adaptation.

The health perception of urban green spaces and its emotional impact on young adults: an empirical study from three cities in China

Introduction

Exposure to green space can bring many benefits to physical and mental health, but in China, the attractiveness of green space to youth groups seems to be not significant. The question of how to encourage young people to go out of the house to better perceive green space, enjoy nature, and promote physical and mental health is on our minds.

Methods

This study combines young people's green space perception, green space use, and purpose of visit to explore its impact on the emotional health of youth groups, combined with the PANAS psychological data scale, an online questionnaire survey of 426 residents (18-35  years old) in three Chinese cities, and was used to construct a multiple regression model and AMOS structural equations.

Results and discussion

The results of the study showed that, firstly, environmental attractiveness, environmental odor, and number of facilities were the key factors influencing adolescents' landscape perception evaluation, while activity space, environmental odor, and environmental attractiveness had a greater impact on adolescents' emotional well-being. Second, among adolescents' visit purposes, socializing and fitness were more likely to help them generate positive emotions while resting and viewing activities were effective in helping them alleviate negative emotions. In addition, in terms of usage, residents who took public transportation as well as those who arrived on foot were the most emotionally healthy. The findings of this paper provide insights for public policymakers, urban planners, and landscape architects to better encourage youth participation in green spaces when they are installed.

Nature-based biopsychosocial resilience: An integrative theoretical framework for research on nature and health

Nature-based solutions including urban forests and wetlands can help communities cope better with climate change and other environmental stressors by enhancing social-ecological resilience. Natural ecosystems, settings, elements and affordances can also help individuals become more personally resilient to a variety of stressors, although the mechanisms underpinning individual-level nature-based resilience, and their relations to social-ecological resilience, are not well articulated. We propose 'nature-based biopsychosocial resilience theory' (NBRT) to address these gaps. Our framework begins by suggesting that individual-level resilience can refer to both: a) a person's set of adaptive resources; and b) the processes by which these resources are deployed. Drawing on existing nature-health perspectives, we argue that nature contact can support individuals build and maintain biological, psychological, and social (i.e. biopsychosocial) resilience-related resources. Together with nature-based social-ecological resilience, these biopsychosocial resilience resources can: i) reduce the risk of various stressors (preventive resilience); ii) enhance adaptive reactions to stressful circumstances (response resilience), and/or iii) facilitate more rapid and/or complete recovery from stress (recovery resilience). Reference to these three resilience processes supports integration across more familiar pathways involving harm reduction, capacity building, and restoration. Evidence in support of the theory, potential interventions to promote nature-based biopsychosocial resilience, and issues that require further consideration are discussed.

Exercise-based rehabilitation in and with nature: a scoping review mapping available interventions

INTRODUCTION

Exercise is an effective component in rehabilitation of a range of chronic conditions. There is a growing interest in the use of exercise-based nature interacted rehabilitation (EBNIR), but an overview of current evidence is missing. The objective of this scoping review was to map existing exercise-based rehabilitation interventions conducted with incidental or intentional nature interaction focusing on its populations, types of outcomes, and theoretical rationale for people with physical and mental disabilities.

METHODS

This scoping review identified peer-reviewed publications, registered upcoming trials and grey literature. To map all available knowledge, a comprehensive search of selected databases (MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; Cochrane; Web of Science; Pedro) from inception to October 2022. Data were synthesized in a thematic presentation guided by TIDieR, supplemented by a checklist developed for this study accounting nature incidental or intentional interaction.

RESULTS

Twelve studies including 856 participants met the inclusion criteria. Eleven were completed trials and one was registered in clinicaltrials.gov to be run in 2023. A total of 856 patients were enrolled in the 12 studies (range 18-262, median 50). The included studies had great variation. The incidental or intentional interacted exercise-based interventions consisted of outdoor walks, neck exercises and surfing interventions in patients with physical or mental health conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review presents an overview of limited and diverse evidence within the field of EBNIR, in patients with physical or mental health conditions. Our review provides an overview that will be helpful in the design of future EBNIR trials.

Do Mental Health Changes in Nature Co-occur with Changes in Heartrate Variability and Executive Functioning? A Systematic Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Given the global burden of mental health issues, new solutions are needed to promote mental health. Nature exposure represents a promising option to promote mental health, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Recent frameworks have argued that changes in mental health in nature are caused by activity changes in the vagus nerve, which connects the heart and the brain, and that these changes also improve executive functioning (EF) abilities. This suggests that changes in mental health symptomology in nature should be accompanied by changes in vagus nerve activity, as well as changes in executive functioning. Yet, little work has systematically examined co-variation of these outcomes in empirical studies. The present manuscript systematically examines whether changes in mental health in nature are accompanied by changes in vagus nerve activity (approximated by heartrate variability) and changes in executive functioning.

RECENT FINDINGS

There is compelling evidence that spending time in nature can increase heartrate variability, improve mental health, and improve executive functioning. However, despite strong theoretical claims that these three outcomes should be linked after spending time in nature settings, few studies directly examine such co-occurrence. The study systematically examines whether studies that considered both mental health and executive functioning (n = 6) showed co-occurring effects in response to nature exposure. Similarly, the study also considers if studies examining mental health and heartrate variability (n = 6) showed similarly directional effects following nature exposure. This systematic review concludes with discussion about the limited number of studies (n =1) that include all three measures. We find mixed results of co-occurrence with these variables, suggesting that the relationship between these three constructs in nature may be more nuanced than current theory suggests. Perhaps more importantly, our results demonstrate that there is very little existing work linking changes in mental health to changes in EF and vagal tone. We conclude with justification for why it may be beneficial for researchers to include all three metrics as well as guidance on how to do so.

Residential greenspace and anxiety symptoms among Australian women living in major cities: A longitudinal analysis

Despite an increasing number of studies demonstrating the potential mental health benefits of greenspace, few longitudinal studies have been reported. We aimed to assess associations between two metrics of residential greenspace exposure and anxiety symptoms in a cohort of Australian women living in major cities. Our study comprised 3,938 women, born between 1973 and 78. Anxiety symptoms in the previous month were assessed at follow-up every three years during 2003-2018, using the anxiety subscale of the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale. The three-month seasonal average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was estimated from 30 m Landsat satellite images in a 500 m buffer (NDVI500m) around participants' address at each survey (higher NDVI indicates more green vegetation). The annual fractional cover of non-photosynthesising vegetation was estimated (fNPV500m, with higher values indicating greater levels of dead leaf litter or dry grass). A generalised estimating equation assessed associations between greenspace measures and anxiety symptoms (as odds ratios [ORs]), adjusting for repeated outcomes and individual-level covariates. Additional analyses focused on women experiencing substantial changes in between-survey exposure due to moving, and adjusting for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, among others. A standard deviation (SD) (0.12 units) increase in NDVI500m was significantly associated with lower odds of anxiety symptoms (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99) in the adjusted model. An SD (5.2%) increase in annual fNPV500m was consistent with the direction expected for that exposure, but not significant in the adjusted model (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.99-1.07). NDVI500m was modestly attenuated when air pollutants were adjusted for, while fNPV500m only became significant when PM2.5 was adjusted for. Between-survey contrasts had no clear effect for NDVI500m. Moving to a higher fNPV500m area, compared with a similar fNPV500m area, was consistently associated with anxiety symptoms (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.02-1.31). NDVI500m was generally associated with lower odds of anxiety symptoms, while fNPV500m was generally associated with higher odds of anxiety, depending on the covariates considered.

Self-reported benefits and risks of open water swimming to health, wellbeing and the environment: Cross-sectional evidence from a survey of Scottish swimmers

Engaging with natural environments benefits human health by providing opportunities for social interactions, enhancing mental wellbeing and enabling outdoor spaces for physical exercise. Open water swimming has seen a rapid increase in popularity, partly due to the physical health benefits it can provide but also with the growing interest in (re)connecting with nature for environment-health interactions. Using a national-scale online survey of 717 open water swimmers, the aim of this study was to investigate patterns and trends in the perceived benefits and risks of open water swimming to both public health and the environment; and to understand whether these perceived risks and benefits vary across different typologies of swimmers and open water, or 'blue space', environments. Strong associations were found between the most important self-reported benefit associated with open water swimming and both participant age and the categorisation of their typical swim style. All but one of the age-groups surveyed perceived mental wellbeing benefits to be the most important benefit of open water swimming; whilst those aged over 65 identified physical rather than mental wellbeing benefits to be the most important outcome. Participants who preferred lake swimming reported greater concern regarding possible environmental damage caused by the increasing popularity of open water swimming compared to those engaging in river or sea swimming. However, the majority of participants perceived the risks to the environment from open water swimming to be minimal. Our study adds to the growing evidence that open water swimming is perceived by participants as benefitting their mental and physical wellbeing. Improved understanding of the benefits and risks of engaging with blue spaces used for open water swimming can contribute to co-designed policy development to promote safer, healthier and more sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities associated with this increasingly popular outdoor pursuit.

Emotion regulation and virtual nature: cognitive reappraisal as an individual-level moderator for impacts on subjective vitality

People who make habitual use of an emotion regulation strategy such as cognitive reappraisal may be more sensitive to the emotion cues coming from a surrounding natural environment and, thus, get more benefits from virtual nature exposure such as enhanced subjective vitality. However, no previous study investigated the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal in the relationship between exposure to different types of natural environments (a national park, a lacustrine environment, and an arctic environment vs. an urban environment) and subjective vitality. We designed a between-subject design (four conditions, one per type of environment) with a sample of 187 university students (M_age = 21.17, SD = 2.55). Participants were exposed to four 360° panoramic photos of the environment for one minute each with a virtual reality head-mounted display. The results of a multicategorical moderation analysis attested that there were two significant interactions, respectively between lacustrine and arctic environments and cognitive reappraisal. More specifically, for participants with low levels of habitual use of cognitive reappraisal, the effects of virtual nature (vs. urban) exposure on subjective vitality were not significant, while for participants with high levels, the effects were significant and positive. Findings show how the potential of virtual nature may be boosted with training aimed at increasing the general use of cognitive reappraisal, supports enhancing the applications of virtual nature, and demonstrates the need to take individual differences into account when determining the benefits of these applications.

Spatiotemporal non-stationarity in green space and stress relationships: Recent evidence from South Korea

A growing body of literature has linked exposure to "green space" (vegetation-rich areas) and other forms of nature to mental health. Exposure-outcome associations at regional or national scales can overlook local associations that define how geographically distinct populations may experience nature differently. Large-scale results might downplay the importance of lived experiences and heterogeneity of human-nature relationships at local scales. The current study examines three types of vegetative cover and identifies how they are associated with perceived stress in South Korea during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. We find forest cover is consistently negatively associated with perceived stress at nationwide scales. In contrast, grass cover and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) show mixed associations with perceived stress at nationwide scales. Models accounting for spatial and temporal variability demonstrate that associations of forest cover, grass cover, and NDVI with perceived stress varies across the country and the study's four-year time horizon. Local governments may need divergent urban greening strategies for health promotion that respond to their specific sociodemographic and pre-existing environmental conditions.

Daily exposure to virtual nature reduces symptoms of anxiety in college students

Exposure to natural environments offers an array of mental health benefits. Virtual reality provides simulated experiences of being in nature when outdoor access is limited. Previous studies on virtual nature have focused mainly on single "doses" of virtual nature. The effects of repeated exposure remain poorly understood. Motivated by this gap, we studied the influence of a daily virtual nature intervention on symptoms of anxiety, depression, and an underlying cause of poor mental health: rumination. Forty college students (58% non-Hispanic White, median age = 19) were recruited from two U.S. universities and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Over several weeks, anxious arousal (panic) and anxious apprehension (worry) decreased with virtual nature exposure. Participants identifying as women, past VR users, experienced with the outdoors, and engaged with the beauty in nature benefited particularly strongly from virtual nature. Virtual nature did not help symptoms of anhedonic depression or rumination. Further research is necessary to distinguish when and for whom virtual nature interventions impact mental health outcomes.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Coupling and Coordination of Cultural Tourism and Objective Well-Being in Western China

A supply of high-quality cultural tourism products effectively promotes people's happiness. This study takes the coupling and coordination relationship between cultural tourism (CT) and objective well-being (OWB) in western China as the research object and constructs an index evaluation system for the development levels of cultural tourism and objective welfare, which are divided into three development stages of dysfunctional, transitional, and coordinated development and 10 coordination levels, including high-quality coordination. The entropy weight method, coupled coordination model, Thiel index, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation were used to calculate the comprehensive development index and coupling coordination degree of the CT and OWB systems in western China from 2007 to 2020, and then their evolution characteristics were analyzed from the perspectives of time and space. The results show the following: (1) The comprehensive development capacity of the CT and OWB systems in the western region shows a relatively consistent growth trend except for 2020, the overall development capacity of objective welfare was relatively high, and the development capacity of cultural tourism was relatively low. (2) The CT and OWB systems were in a state of transition from high coupling and low coordination to high coupling and high coordination, which were divided into three development stages: imbalanced stage (2007-2008), transitional stage (2009-2011), and coordinated development (2012-2020). The coordination degree has developed steadily from moderate misalignment to good coordination over time, and the diversified characteristics of coupling coordination levels are obvious. (3) The spatial equilibrium of the CT and OWB systems is obvious, and the spatial difference in the western region is getting smaller, but the relative gap is widening significantly. (4) The comprehensive development capacity of the cultural tourism system should be enhanced, the spiritual needs of residents based on objective well-being should be met, and the sustainable development of the CT and OWB systems.

The PAD-US-AR dataset: Measuring accessible and recreational parks in the contiguous United States

Most spatial epidemiological studies of nature-health relationships use generalized greenspace measures. For instance, coarse-resolution spatial data containing normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) values are prominent despite criticisms, such as the inability to restrain exposure estimates to public and private land. Non-threatening natural landscapes can improve health by building capacities for health-promoting behaviors. Recreational and accessible parks may best activate such behaviors. We curated the Parks and Protected Areas Database of the U.S. (PAD-US) to identify parks that are accessible for outdoor recreation. Our title adds "AR" to "PAD-US" where A = Accessible and R = Recreational. We validated the PAD-US-AR by comparisons with greenspace datasets and sociodemographics, which demonstrated its uniqueness from other commonly employed metrics of nature exposure. The PAD-US-AR presents reliable estimates of parks in the contiguous U.S. that are accessible for outdoor recreation. It has strong associations with home prices, shares of female residents, and shares of older residents. This dataset can accompany other nature exposure metrics in environmental epidemiology and allied research fields.