Forest bathing and hiking benefits for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mediterranean regions

Abstract

Forest bathing (FB) has evidenced positive effects on individuals’ mental health and well-being, but its benefits have mainly been studied in Asian biomes. The present study aimed to evaluate whether its benefits are also generalisable to other forests and biomes of the world, such as the Mediterranean. Eighty-six healthy adults of the general population were assessed before and after a FB near Barcelona (Spain) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A control-hiking group of participants was also analysed to contrast the FB effects on anxiety, affect, mood states and mindfulness. Results show that the guided practice of FB in Mediterranean-Catalan forests increases mindfulness states and positive affect and reduces anxiety and negative affect, with effect sizes being large to very large. Hiking also induced significant changes in all variables tested, but FB showed higher effect sizes. An exploratory analysis also revealed a different profile of the FB participants compared to the hiking practitioners, being highly educated women living in urban areas and with lower basal levels of psychological well-being. Accordingly, it is concluded that both Mediterranean FB and hiking (to a lesser degree) might be cost-effective strategies to promote and restore psychological well-being after the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote sustainable tourism in Mediterranean biomes of the European forested and protected areas.

Forest Bathing and the Mental Health of Medical Students

“…Studies indicated that after forest bathing, POMS scores for participants on the ve negative subscales signi cantly decreased [4,11,12], reduced anxiety [8,11,13], tension [14], and stress [11], increased mindfulness [15], optimized social connection [8, 15,16], positive affect [11,15], connection with nature [4,11], compassion for oneself [11], depressive symptoms [6,11,14,15,17,18], negative emoticons [16,19], the cardioprotective effect [13], and sleep [14]. Regarding vigor, four studies indicate that it increased [13,14,16,17], and two other studies indicate that it did not vary signi cantly [8,20].…”

Urban Forest Recreation and Its Possible Role throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes in the everyday lifestyles of most people worldwide. Imposed public health and economic restrictions in the form of social distancing, lockdowns, home isolation and drastically reduced time spent outdoors have left a strong mark on the mental and physical state of millions of people [6,[10][11][12][13][14]17]. The influence of restrictions was severe in the area of TFE MF Křtiny, but not in the way that the authorities expected.…”

“…The favourable effects of green areas on the human body are well documented and include the following: reduced stress levels during leisure time, the improvement of social interaction in public spaces, the acceleration of recovery from illness (e.g., green areas around hospitals and mental health institutions), the reduction of mental fatigue, the improvement of concentration and performance (e.g., greenery around schools, kindergartens, workplaces) and the suppression of feelings of aggression and violence. Research into the health-promoting effects of vegetation on the human body has been put into practice for years, for example, in Japan, as part of therapies known as "forest bathing" (Japanese: "shinrin-yoku") [5,6]. Much evidence shows that contact with nature-especially lush vegetation-helps to reduce stress hormones in the human body and stimulates the activity of white blood cells responsible for fighting cancer cells and infections [3,[7][8][9].…”

“…Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes in the daily lifestyles of most people around the world. The imposed public health and economic restrictions of social distancing, lockdowns, domestic isolation and drastic reduction of time spent outdoors have left a strong mark on the mental and physical state of millions of people [6,[10][11][12][13][14]17]. The long-term stress of lockdowns was found to affect not only the human mind but also immunity against diseases and the overall activity of the body on a biological level [5]; this was reported in the context of the global community by the WHO well over a decade before the outbreak of the pandemic [18].…”

“…Limited research has focused on the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on the increased movement of people in the forest environment and the exploitation of the positive effects of the forest on human health (e.g., [6,22,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]). Moreover, there has been little research (e.g., [42]) on the effect of restrictions associated with the reduction in movement of people during the epidemic, including in the forest environment.…”