IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0280837.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations of greenspace use and proximity with self-reported physical and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Janelle R Edwards
  • Jeromy W Gotschall
  • Jane E Clougherty
  • Leah H Schinasi

Abstract

Research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic affected individual’s mental and physical health. The aim of this study was to estimate associations between greenspace use and proximity with perceived mental and physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed metropolitan Philadelphia residents, October 20–December 1, 2020, about walking time to the nearest greenspace from their home, frequency of greenspace use in the past 30 days, change in frequency of greenspace use during the COVID-19 pandemic, and perceived physical and mental health outcomes. We ran unadjusted and adjusted log-binomial regression models to derive Risk Ratio (RR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) estimates of associations of loneliness, physical and mental health outcomes with: (1) self-reported walking time to nearest greenspace; (2) reported greenspace use frequency; and (3) changes in greenspace use frequency. Of 485 survey participants, 244 (51.4%) reported feeling lonelier, 147 (31.37%) reported higher perceived stress, 261 (54.9%) reported worsened mental health, and 137 (28.7%) reported worsened physical health during vs. before the start of pandemic-restrictions in mid-March of 2020. After adjustment for gender, age, and change in financial status, RR estimates suggested modest protective associations between visiting greenspaces more frequently during vs. before the pandemic and worsened mental (RR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.70–1.00), and physical health (RR 0.77, 95% CI: 0.56–1.10), and loneliness (RR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.75–1.1) and perceived stress (RR 0.83, 95% CI: 0.61–1.13). Shorter walking distances to the nearest greenspace were associated with reduced risk of reporting worsened physical health and higher perceived stress; however, living shorter walking distances from greenspace were not associated with protection against worsened mental health or loneliness. These results suggest that active greenspace use may provide mental and physical health protection, particularly during a stressful public health crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Janelle R Edwards & Jeromy W Gotschall & Jane E Clougherty & Leah H Schinasi, 2023. "Associations of greenspace use and proximity with self-reported physical and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0280837
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280837
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280837
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280837&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0280837?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:osf:socarx:kbdum_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Finlay, Jessica M. & Kobayashi, Lindsay C., 2018. "Social isolation and loneliness in later life: A parallel convergent mixed-methods case study of older adults and their residential contexts in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 25-33.
    3. Venter, Zander & Barton, David & gundersen, vegard & Figari, Helene & Nowell, Megan, 2020. "Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway," SocArXiv kbdum, Center for Open Science.
    4. Seulkee Heo & Miraj U. Desai & Sarah R. Lowe & Michelle L. Bell, 2021. "Impact of Changed Use of Greenspace during COVID-19 Pandemic on Depression and Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Colleen E Reid & Emma S Rieves & Kate Carlson, 2022. "Perceptions of green space usage, abundance, and quality of green space were associated with better mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among residents of Denver," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Helena Nordh & Katinka H. Evensen, 2022. "Landscape Architecture Design and Well-Being—Research Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-3, April.
    2. Shuhao Liu & Chang Su & Ruochen Yang & Jianye Zhao & Kun Liu & Kwangmin Ham & Shiro Takeda & Junhua Zhang, 2022. "Using Crowdsourced Big Data to Unravel Urban Green Space Utilization during COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Bruno Marques & Jacqueline McIntosh & Chitrakala Muthuveerappan & Krzysztof Herman, 2022. "The Importance of Outdoor Spaces during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Aotearoa—New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Hui, Ling Chui & Jim, C.Y., 2022. "Urban-greenery demands are affected by perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices, and socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Luyang Chen & Lingbo Liu & Hao Wu & Zhenghong Peng & Zhihao Sun, 2022. "Change of Residents’ Attitudes and Behaviors toward Urban Green Space Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Carolina Mayen Huerta & Ariane Utomo, 2022. "Barriers Affecting Women’s Access to Urban Green Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Xin Wang & Jingjing Lai & Yanlong Guo, 2024. "Study on Tourism Responsiveness and Habitat Environment-Influencing Factors of Traditional Villages in Huizhou Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Mingxin Liu & Chenxi Chen & Jiaqi Yan, 2023. "Identifying Park Spatial Characteristics That Encourage Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity among Park Visitors," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, March.
    9. LU, Yi & Zhao, Jianting & Wu, Xueying & Lo, Siu Ming, 2020. "Escaping to nature in pandemic: a natural experiment of COVID-19 in Asian cities," SocArXiv rq8sn, Center for Open Science.
    10. Emad B. Dawwas & Karen Dyson, 2021. "COVID-19 Changed Human-Nature Interactions across Green Space Types: Evidence of Change in Multiple Types of Activities from the West Bank, Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    12. James McGinlay & Jens Holtvoeth & Alfie Begley & Juliana Dörstel & Anne Kockelmann & Michael Lammertz & Chrysovalantis Malesios & Nikoleta Jones, 2023. "Perceived Social Impacts of Protected Areas, Their Influence on Local Public Support and Their Distribution across Social Groups: Evidence from the Eifel National Park, Germany, during the COVID-19 Pa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    13. Yifeng Liu & Yuan Lai, 2024. "Analyzing jogging activity patterns and adaptation to public health regulation," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(3), pages 670-688, March.
    14. Noszczyk, Tomasz & Gorzelany, Julia & Kukulska-Kozieł, Anita & Hernik, Józef, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of urban green spaces to the public," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Finlay, Jessica & Esposito, Michael & Langa, Kenneth M. & Judd, Suzanne & Clarke, Philippa, 2022. "Cognability: An Ecological Theory of neighborhoods and cognitive aging," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Brzoska, P. & Grunewald, K. & Bastian, O., 2021. "A multi-criteria analytical method to assess ecosystem services at urban site level, exemplified by two German city districts," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    18. Megan Heckert & Amanda Bristowe, 2021. "Parks and the Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Research on Green Infrastructure Use and Health Outcomes during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Argyro Anna Kanelli & Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos & Nikolaos M. Fyllas & George P. Chrousos & Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, 2021. "Engaging the Senses: The Association of Urban Green Space with General Health and Well-Being in Urban Residents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    20. Makoto Sakuma & Kazushi Matsuo & Morito Tsutsumi & Toyokazu Imazeki, 2024. "Measuring office attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic with mobility data to quantify local trends and characteristics," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 185-237, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0280837. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.