TY - JOUR
T1 - Psycho-Physiological Stress Recovery in Outdoor Nature-Based Interventions
T2 - A Systematic Review of the Past Eight Years of Research
AU - Corazon, Sus Sola
AU - Sidenius, Ulrik
AU - Poulsen, Dorthe Varning
AU - Gramkow, Marie Christoffersen
AU - Stigsdotter, Ulrika K.
PY - 2019/5/2
Y1 - 2019/5/2
N2 - Background: In modern, urban daily life, natural environments are increasingly recognized as an important resource for stress recovery and general well-being. Aim: The present review aims to provide an overview and synthesis of the past eight years’ research into the psycho-physiological effects of outdoor nature-based interventions, related to stress recovery. Method: A structured search was performed in seven databases, returning 5618 articles. Removal of duplicates and initial screening gave a total of 95 studies. After full text reading, 36 studies were included in the assessment. Results: Most of the psychological outcomes were related to different emotional measures. The synthesis of the results points towards outdoor, nature-based exposure having a positive effect on different emotional parameters, related to stress relief. The studies into physiological measures showed more equivocal results. Conclusion: The research, conducted over the past eight years, into outdoor, nature-based exposure has now attained a sound evidence base for psychological and especially emotional effects, but the evidence base for physiological effects within this timeframe shows a great degree of heterogeneity. Limitations: Interpretation of the results is limited by the review only covering the past eight years’ research on the subject.
AB - Background: In modern, urban daily life, natural environments are increasingly recognized as an important resource for stress recovery and general well-being. Aim: The present review aims to provide an overview and synthesis of the past eight years’ research into the psycho-physiological effects of outdoor nature-based interventions, related to stress recovery. Method: A structured search was performed in seven databases, returning 5618 articles. Removal of duplicates and initial screening gave a total of 95 studies. After full text reading, 36 studies were included in the assessment. Results: Most of the psychological outcomes were related to different emotional measures. The synthesis of the results points towards outdoor, nature-based exposure having a positive effect on different emotional parameters, related to stress relief. The studies into physiological measures showed more equivocal results. Conclusion: The research, conducted over the past eight years, into outdoor, nature-based exposure has now attained a sound evidence base for psychological and especially emotional effects, but the evidence base for physiological effects within this timeframe shows a great degree of heterogeneity. Limitations: Interpretation of the results is limited by the review only covering the past eight years’ research on the subject.
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph16101711
DO - 10.3390/ijerph16101711
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31100773
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 16
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
M1 - 10
ER -