Using Structural Equation Modeling to Examine Pathways Between Environmental Characteristics and Perceived Restorativeness on Public Rooftop Gardens in China

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.

Research on patient-centered design for post-stroke depression patients based on SEM and comprehensive evaluation

Introduction

Since COVID-19, medical resources have been tight, making it inconvenient to go offline for the sequelae of diseases such as post-stroke depression (PSD) that require long-term follow-up. As a new digital therapy, VRTL began to gain popularity.

Method

The research is divided into two parts: pre-test and post-test. In the pre-test, an evaluation method integrating reality-based interaction (RBI), structural equation model (SEM), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and entropy weight method is proposed. In the post-test the patients' physiological indicators (Diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure and heart rate) are measured to verify the effectiveness of RBI-SEM model using T-test method.

Results

In the pre-test, using SEM, it was confirmed that P_i physical awareness, B_i body awareness, E_i environmental awareness, and S_i social awareness were significantly correlated and positively affected VRTL satisfaction (p >> F 0.217; B >> F 0.130; E >> F 0.243; S >> F 0.122). The comprehensive weight ranking based on RBI-SEM considered light environment (0.665), vegetation diversity (0.667), accessible roaming space (0.550) et al. relatively of importance. And T-tset in the post-test experiment considered that the data of the two measurements before and after the VRTL experience, systolic blood pressure (p < 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01), and blood pressure (p < 0.01) were significantly decreased; one-way ANOVA concluded that there was no significant difference in the changes of blood pressure and heart rate among participants of different ages and genders (p > 0.01).

Conclusion

This research validated the effectiveness of RBI theory for VRTL design guidelines, established an RBI-SEM based VRTL evaluation model, and the output VRTL for PSD in the older adults was confirmed to have significant therapeutic benefits. This lays the foundation for designers to decompose design tasks and integrate VRTL into traditional clinical treatment systems.

Contribution from the public or patients

Four public health department employees helped to improve the research's content.

The Counteractive Effect of Self-Regulation-Based Interventions on Prior Mental Exertion: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND

Many investigations have been performed on the effects of mental exertion that consumes self-regulatory resources and then affects physical and/or cognitive performance later on. However, the effect of manipulating self-regulation and interventions to attenuate this negative effect remains unclear. Moreover, there is continuous controversy regarding the resource model of self-regulation.

OBJECTIVE

We conducted a systematic review to assess the literature on manipulating self-regulation based on four ingredients (standard, monitoring, strength, and motivation) in order to counter mental exertion and improve physical and/or cognitive performance. The results provide more insight into the resource model.

METHOD

A thorough search was conducted to extract the relevant literature from several databases, as well as Google Scholar, and the sources from the references were included as grey literature. A self-regulation intervention compared to a control condition, a physical and/or cognitive task, and a randomised controlled trial were selected.

RESULT

A total of 39 publications were included. Regarding the four components of self-regulation, the interventions could mainly be divided into the following: (i) standard: implementation intervention; (ii) monitoring: biofeedback and time monitoring; (iii) strength: repeated exercise, mindfulness, nature exposure, and recovery strategies; (iv) motivation: autonomy-supportive and monetary incentives. The majority of the interventions led to significant improvement in subsequent self-regulatory performance. In addition, the resource model of self-regulation and attention-restoration theory were the most frequently used theories and supported relevant interventions.

CONCLUSION

In line with the resource model, manipulating the four components of self-regulation can effectively attenuate the negative influence of mental exertion. The conservation proposed in the strength model of self-regulation was supported in the current findings to explain the role of motivation in the self-regulation process. Future studies can focus on attention as the centre of the metaphorical resource in the model.