Forest Bathing and Hiking benefits for mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in Mediterranean regions

Abstract

Forest Bathing (FB) is a nature-therapeutic modality that has evidenced positive effects on individuals’ mental health and it is also considered a sustainable touristic activity. However, its benefits have mainly been studied in Asian biomes and more cross-cultural research is needed to evaluate if its benefits are also generalizable to other forests and biomes of the world, such as the Mediterranean. Accordingly, 86 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 have shown that the guided practice of FB in Mediterranean-Catalan forests enhances significanlty 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 wellbeing. 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.