IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i17p6104-d402306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change to Explain Intentional Outdoor Nature Contact Behavior among College Students

Author

Listed:
  • Manoj Sharma

    (Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA)

  • Erin Largo-Wight

    (Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA)

  • Amar Kanekar

    (College of Business, Health and Human Services, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR 72204, USA)

  • Hana Kusumoto

    (Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA)

  • Stephanie Hooper

    (Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA)

  • Vinayak K. Nahar

    (Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA
    Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA)

Abstract

Nature contact is an emerging health behavior and is defined as the interaction between human beings and animals, plants, natural scenic views, or outdoor activities. Studies have shown that exposure to the outdoors (as a means of contact with nature) reduces perceived stress and promotes health and wellbeing among varying populations in many settings. To date, however, there are few studies exploring the impact of nature contact among college students, especially in the United States. In addition, the determinants of nature contact behavior have not adequately been explored using behavioral theories. The purpose of this study was to use the multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change, a contemporary fourth-generation behavioral theory in explaining intentional outdoor nature contact behavior among college students. Using a cross-sectional design, 401 students completed the validated survey based on MTM. Of these, 281 met the inclusion criteria. The mean score for perceived stress based on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) in the sample was 21.60 (7.08) units, with a possible minimum and maximum scores ranging from 0 to 40 units. Constructs of behavioral confidence (standardized coefficient = 0.591, p < 0.001) and changes in the physical environment (standardized coefficient = 0.271, p < 0.001) from MTM accounted for 57.5% of the variance in the initiation for intentional outdoor nature contact behavior. All the three constructs of MTM—namely, emotional transformation (standardized coefficient = 0.173, p = 0.021), practice for change (standardized coefficient = 0.317, p < 0.001), and changes in the social environment (standardized coefficient = 0.204, p = 0.002)—were statistically significant and contributed substantively toward the variance (31.0%) in sustenance. MTM provides a useful and pragmatic framework for designing interventions to promote intentional nature contact behavior among college students.

Suggested Citation

  • Manoj Sharma & Erin Largo-Wight & Amar Kanekar & Hana Kusumoto & Stephanie Hooper & Vinayak K. Nahar, 2020. "Using the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change to Explain Intentional Outdoor Nature Contact Behavior among College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6104-:d:402306
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6104/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6104/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rothman, K.J. & Greenland, S., 2005. "Causation and causal inference in epidemiology," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(S1), pages 144-150.
    2. Vinayak K. Nahar & Julia K. Wells & Robert E. Davis & Elizabeth C. Johnson & Jason W. Johnson & Manoj Sharma, 2020. "Factors Associated with Initiation and Sustenance of Stress Management Behaviors in Veterinary Students: Testing of Multi-Theory Model (MTM)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Sandifer, Paul A. & Sutton-Grier, Ariana E. & Ward, Bethney P., 2015. "Exploring connections among nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health and well-being: Opportunities to enhance health and biodiversity conservation," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 1-15.
    4. Hyunju Jo & Chorong Song & Yoshifumi Miyazaki, 2019. "Physiological Benefits of Viewing Nature: A Systematic Review of Indoor Experiments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-23, November.
    5. Gaochao Zhang & Dorthe V. Poulsen & Victoria L. Lygum & Sus S. Corazon & Marie C. Gramkow & Ulrika K. Stigsdotter, 2017. "Health-Promoting Nature Access for People with Mobility Impairments: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Manoj Sharma & Kavita Batra & Ching-Chen Chen & Chia-Liang Dai & Ravi Batra & David P. Cappelli, 2022. "Predicting Flossing through the Application of the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change among Minority Adolescents in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Chia-Liang Dai & Ching-Chen Chen & Manoj Sharma, 2023. "Exploring Yoga Behaviors among College Students Based on the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Manoj Sharma & Robert E. Davis & Amanda H. Wilkerson, 2021. "COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among College Students: A Theory-Based Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.
    4. Manoj Sharma & Kavita Batra & Ravi Batra & Chia-Liang Dai & Traci Hayes & Melinda J. Ickes & Tejinder Pal Singh, 2022. "Assessing the Testability of the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) in Predicting Vaping Quitting Behavior among Young Adults in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mário Santos & Helena Moreira & João Alexandre Cabral & Ronaldo Gabriel & Andreia Teixeira & Rita Bastos & Alfredo Aires, 2022. "Contribution of Home Gardens to Sustainable Development: Perspectives from A Supported Opinion Essay," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-26, October.
    2. Rikuto Yamashita & Chong Chen & Toshio Matsubara & Kosuke Hagiwara & Masato Inamura & Kohei Aga & Masako Hirotsu & Tomoe Seki & Akiyo Takao & Erika Nakagawa & Ayumi Kobayashi & Yuko Fujii & Keiko Hira, 2021. "The Mood-Improving Effect of Viewing Images of Nature and Its Neural Substrate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Wai Soe Zin & Aya Suzuki & Kelvin S.-H. Peh & Alexandros Gasparatos, 2019. "Economic Value of Cultural Ecosystem Services from Recreation in Popa Mountain National Park, Myanmar: A Comparison of Two Rapid Valuation Techniques," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Christopher Hassall & Michael Nisbet & Evan Norcliffe & He Wang, 2024. "The Potential Health Benefits of Urban Tree Planting Suggested through Immersive Environments," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Deborah F Coldwell & Karl L Evans, 2017. "Contrasting effects of visiting urban green-space and the countryside on biodiversity knowledge and conservation support," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Kaowen Grace Chang & William C. Sullivan & Ying-Hsuan Lin & Weichia Su & Chun-Yen Chang, 2016. "The Effect of Biodiversity on Green Space Users’ Wellbeing—An Empirical Investigation Using Physiological Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Matthew Dennis & David Barlow & Gina Cavan & Penny A. Cook & Anna Gilchrist & John Handley & Philip James & Jessica Thompson & Konstantinos Tzoulas & C. Philip Wheater & Sarah Lindley, 2018. "Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, January.
    8. Louis Anthony (Tony) Cox & Edward Sanders, 2006. "Estimating Preventable Fractions of Disease Caused by a Specified Biological Mechanism: PAHs in Smoking Lung Cancers as an Example," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 881-892, August.
    9. William L. Rice & Sarah Y. Michels & Miranda Foster & Jon Graham & Peter Whitney & Jennifer M. Thomsen, 2023. "Exploring the Impacts of Protected Areas’ Attributes on Pediatric Health: The Case for Additional Research beyond Greenspace," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Andrea Amerio & Andrea Brambilla & Alessandro Morganti & Andrea Aguglia & Davide Bianchi & Francesca Santi & Luigi Costantini & Anna Odone & Alessandra Costanza & Carlo Signorelli & Gianluca Serafini , 2020. "COVID-19 Lockdown: Housing Built Environment’s Effects on Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-10, August.
    11. Ulep, Valerie Gilbert T. & Ortiz, Danica Aisa P. & Go, John Juliard & Duante, Charmaine & Gonzales, Rosa C. & Mendoza, Laurita R. & Reyes, Clarissa & Elgo, Frances Rose & Aldeon, Melanie P., 2012. "Inequities in Noncommunicable Diseases," Discussion Papers DP 2012-04, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    12. Pelletier, Marie-Chantale & Heagney, Elizabeth & KovaÄ , Mladen, 2021. "Valuing recreational services: A review of methods with application to New South Wales National Parks," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    13. Jean-Baptist du Prel & Johannes Siegrist & Daniela Borchart, 2019. "The Role of Leisure-Time Physical Activity in the Change of Work-Related Stress (ERI) over Time," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-9, December.
    14. Sime Smolic & Ivan Cipin & Petra Medimurec, 2020. "How is health associated with employment during later working life in Croatia?," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 44(1), pages 99-116.
    15. Liwen Li & Klaus W. Lange, 2023. "Assessing the Relationship between Urban Blue-Green Infrastructure and Stress Resilience in Real Settings: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-28, June.
    16. Peta Brom & Kristine Engemann & Christina Breed & Maya Pasgaard & Titilope Onaolapo & Jens-Christian Svenning, 2023. "A Decision Support Tool for Green Infrastructure Planning in the Face of Rapid Urbanization," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, February.
    17. Suzanne M. Skevington & Richard Emsley & Svenja Dehner & Ian Walker & Stuart E. Reynolds, 2019. "Does Subjective Health Affect the Association between Biodiversity and Quality of Life? Insights from International Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1315-1331, November.
    18. Tian Gao & Rui Song & Ling Zhu & Ling Qiu, 2019. "What Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces and Recreational Activities Do Self-Reported Stressed Individuals Like? A Case Study of Baoji, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Elwell, Tammy L. & López-Carr, David & Gelcich, Stefan & Gaines, Steven D., 2020. "The importance of cultural ecosystem services in natural resource-dependent communities: Implications for management," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    20. Mare Lõhmus & Cecilia U. D. Stenfors & Tomas Lind & André Lauber & Antonios Georgelis, 2021. "Mental Health, Greenness, and Nature Related Behaviors in the Adult Population of Stockholm County during COVID-19-Related Restrictions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-21, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6104-:d:402306. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.