ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2019
A comparative study of the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) on working age people with and without depressive tendencies.
Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 7 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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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Benefits of forest therapy for adult mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis based on the Profile of Mood States (POMS).Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Forest-Based Interventions on Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- What Activities in Forests Are Beneficial for Human Health? A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of Forest Therapy on Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Evidence-Based Status of Forest Healing Program in South Korea.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Medical empirical research on forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku): a systematic review.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2019Pooled it
- A comprehensive evaluation of the health benefits of forest therapy for cancer survivors.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2026Trial
- Therapeutic effects of forest bathing on older adult patients with essential hypertension: evidence from a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- The effect of brief exposure to virtual nature on mental wellbeing in adolescents.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Effects of Urban Forest Therapy Program on Depression Patients.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Spending Time in the Forest or the Field: Investigations on Stress Perception and Psychological Well-Being-A Randomized Cross-Over Trial in Highly Sensitive Persons.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Assessing the Impact of a Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) Intervention on Physician/Healthcare Professional Burnout: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Comparative Study of the Restorative Effects of Forest and Urban Videos during COVID-19 Lockdown: Intrinsic and Benchmark Values.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Green space exposure predicts manic episodes in bipolar disorder: one year longitudinal analysis using smartphone-derived GPS data.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Nature-Based Environment as a Workplace of Forest Therapy Specialist in Healthcare Context: Legal Perspective.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Ecosystem structure influences human health outcomes as the basis for green prescriptions.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Effects of Forest Therapy on Depressive Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Psychology research and behavior management · 2026Review
- Potential preventive effects of forest bathing/Shinrin-yoku on depressive symptoms: a narrative review of mechanistic evidence.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2026Review
- Effect of natural environmental changes on Hainan migratory population with hypertension in China and related plasma metabolism features.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn recent years, many of Japanese workers have complained of fatigue and stress, considering them as risk factors for depression. Studies have found that "forest bathing" (Shinrin-yoku) has positive physiological effects, such as blood pressure reduction, improvement of autonomic and immune functions, as well as psychological effects of alleviating depression and improving mental health. In this study, we investigate the physiological and psychological effects of "forest bathing" on people of a working age with and without depressive tendencies.
methodsWe conducted physiological measurements and psychological surveys before and after forest bathing with subjects who participated in day-long sessions of forest bathing, at a forest therapy base located in Hiroshima Prefecture. After excluding severely depressed individuals, the participants were classified into two groups: those with depressive tendencies (5 ≤ K6 ≤ 12) and those without depressive tendencies (K6 < 5) for comparative study. The evaluation indices measured were systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse rate (PR), autonomic functions, and profile of mood states (POMS).
resultsOf the 155 participants, 37% had depressive tendencies, without any differences observed between males and females. All participants showed significant decrease in SBP, DBP, and in negative POMS items after a forest bathing session. Before the session, those with depressive tendencies scored significantly higher on the POMS negative items than those without depressive tendencies. After forest bathing, those with depressive tendencies demonstrated significantly greater improvement in many of POMS items than those without depressive tendencies, and many of them no longer differed between those with and without depressive tendencies.
conclusionsExamining the physiological and psychological effects of a day-long session of forest bathing on a working age group demonstrated significant positive effects on mental health, especially in those with depressive tendencies. Not applicable; this is not a report of intervention trial.
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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.