ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2019
Residential neighborhood greenery and children's cognitive development.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The stability of cognitive abilities: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies.Psychological bulletin · 2024Pooled it
- Growing up green: a systematic review of the influence of greenspace on youth development and health outcomes.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Life Course Nature Exposure and Mental Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Future Directions.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Green space is associated with better directed attention and higher crystallized intelligence in middle childhood: Evidence from the ABCD study.Environment international · 2026Article
- Associations between greenspace and memory: Evidence from the COMPASS cohort in Chicago.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Linking park environmental characteristics to child health outcomes: towards an evidence-based child-friendly design framework.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Increased urban greenspace in childhood associated with lower inattention deficit among adolescents.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Modifiable factors associated with cognitive performance in Chinese adolescents: a national environment-wide association study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Neighborhood Socio-Economic Status Influences Motor Performance and Inhibitory Control in Kindergarten Children-Findings from the Cross-Sectional Kitafit Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Diversity of Studies on Neighborhood Greenspace and Brain Health by Racialized/Ethnic Group and Geographic Region: A Rapid Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Education is power: preserving cognition in the UK biobank.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- From Childhood Residential Green space to Adult Mental Wellbeing: A Pathway Analysis among Chinese Adults.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Early-Life Exposure to Green Space and Mid-Childhood Cognition in the Project Viva Cohort, Massachusetts.American journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Cognitive Function in Adolescents and Young Adults With Youth-Onset Type 1 Versus Type 2 Diabetes: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study.Diabetes care · 2021Observational
- Outdoor green space exposure and brain health measures related to Alzheimer's disease: a rapid review.BMJ open · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Children who grow up in neighborhoods with more green vegetation show enhanced cognitive development in specific domains over short timespans. However, it is unknown if neighborhood greenery per se is uniquely predictive of children's overall cognitive development measured across many years. The E-Risk Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative 1994-5 birth-cohort of children in Britain (n = 1658 urban and suburban-dwelling participants), was used to test whether residential neighborhood greenery uniquely predicts children's cognitive development across childhood and adolescence. Greenery exposure was assessed from ages 5 to 18 using the satellite imagery-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in 1-mile buffers around the home. Fluid and crystalized intellectual performance was assessed in the home at ages 5, 12, and 18 using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, and executive function, working memory, and attention ability were assessed in the home at age 18 using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Children living in residences surrounded by more neighborhood greenery scored significantly higher, on average, on IQ measures at all ages. However, the association between greenery and cognitive measures did not hold after accounting for family or neighborhood socioeconomic status. After adjustment for study covariates, child greenery exposure was not a significant predictor of longitudinal increases in IQ across childhood and adolescence or of executive function, working memory, or attention ability at age 18. Children raised in greener neighborhoods exhibit better overall cognitive ability, but the association is likely accounted for by family and neighborhood socioeconomic factors.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.