Authors
Magdalena van den Berg
Mireille van Poppel
Graham Smith
Margarita Triguero-Mas
Sandra Andrusaityte
Irene van Kamp
Willem van Mechelen
Christopher Gidlow
Regina Gražulevičiene
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
Hanneke Kruize
Jolanda Maas
Publication Date
2017
Publication Details
van den Berg, M., van Poppel, M., Smith, G., Triguero-Mas, M., Andrusaityte, S., van Kamp, I., van Mechelen, W., Gidlow, C., Gražulevičiene, R., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Kruize, H. & Maas, J. (2017). Does time spent on visits to green space mediate the associations between the level of residential greenness and mental health?. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening,25C. C. K. van den Bosch. 94-102. Germany: Elsevier GmbH - Urban und Fischer. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.04.010
Abstract
Objective The objective of the current study was to explore whether time spent visiting green space near home acts as a mediator in the association between level of residential greenness and perceived mental health. Methods Questionnaire data and satellite data of residential greenness were gathered in four European cities (total n = 3748): Barcelona (SP), Doetinchem (NL), Kaunas (LT) and Stoke-on-Trent (UK). Results Mediation analyses showed that time spent visiting green space near home was a weak, but statistically significant, mediator in the pooled data and in the Dutch sample only. Conclusions The findings provide little support for the hypothesis that purposeful visits are a mediator linking indirectly greenness with mental health. More research is needed to explore other mediators related to different exposure pathways, such as visual exposure, and alternative mechanisms, such as (perceived) safety.
School/Institute
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Document Type
Journal Article
Access Rights
ERA Access