ArticleEnvironmental research2022
Greenspace and park use associated with less emotional distress among college students in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Environmental research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Natural Environments in University Campuses and Students' Well-Being.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- The next viral pandemic-where do we stand?Folia microbiologica · 2025Review
- Outdoor recreation's association with mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2025Article
- The effects of therapeutic horticulture on student well-being and academic resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The Built Environment and Childhood Obesity.Pediatric clinics of North America · 2024Review
- Who Benefits? A Mixed Methods Study Assessing Community Use of a Major Metropolitan Park During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024Article
- Measuring the 3-30-300 rule to help cities meet nature access thresholds.The Science of the total environment · 2024Review
- Exploring the association between campus environment of higher education and student health: A systematic review of findings and measures.Urban forestry & urban greening · 2024Article
- How People's COVID-19 Induced-Worries and Multiple Environmental Exposures Are Associated with Their Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during the Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Engagement with Nature and the Home Environment: Wellbeing and Proenvironmental Behavior among Irish and Italian University Students during the COVID-19 Emergency.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Natural environments, psychosocial health, and health behaviors in a crisis - A scoping review of the literature in the COVID-19 context.Journal of environmental psychology · 2023Article
- Greenness and equity: Complex connections between intra-neighborhood contexts and residential tree planting implementation.Environment international · 2023Article
- Disparities in greenspace access during COVID-19 mobility restrictions.Environmental research · 2023Article
- Neighborhood Physical and Social Environments and Social Inequalities in Health in Older Adolescents and Young Adults: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Covid-19 and outdoor recreation - Lessons learned? Introduction to the special issue on "Outdoor recreation and Covid-19: Its effects on people, parks and landscapes".Journal of outdoor recreation and tourism · 2023Article
- Effects of exposure to immersive computer-generated virtual nature and control environments on affect and cognition.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Psychological Distress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Protective Role of Hope.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2023Article
- Association between intentional behavioral changes and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Touch, feel, heal. The use of hospital green spaces and landscape as sensory-therapeutic gardens: a case study in a university clinic.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- The PAD-US-AR dataset: Measuring accessible and recreational parks in the contiguous United States.Scientific data · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many people's psychological health. Impacts may be particularly severe among socially vulnerable populations such as college students, a group predisposed to mental health problems. Outdoor recreation and visits to greenspaces such as parks offer promising pathways for addressing the mental health challenges associated with COVID-19. During the early stages of the pandemic (March-May 2020), we surveyed 1280 college students at four large public universities across the United States (U.S.) to assess how, and why, outdoor recreation and park use changed since the emergence of COVID-19. We also measured students' self-reported levels of emotional distress (a proxy for psychological health) and assessed potential demographic and contextual correlates of distress, including county-level per capita park area and greenness, using generalized linear models. We found that 67% of students reported limiting outdoor activities and 54% reported reducing park use during the pandemic. Students who reduced their use of outdoor spaces cited structural reasons (e.g., lockdowns), concerns about viral transmission, and negative emotions that obstructed active lifestyles. Students who maintained pre-pandemic park use levels expressed a desire to be outdoors in nature, often with the explicit goal of improving mental and physical health. Emotional distress among students was widespread. Models showed higher levels of emotional distress were associated with reducing park use during the pandemic and residing in counties with a smaller area of parks per capita. This study of U.S. college students supports the value of park-based recreation as a health promotion strategy for diverse populations of young adults during a time of crisis.
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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.