Natural Environments, Psychosocial Health, and Health Behaviors in a Crisis – A Scoping Review of the Literature in the COVID-19 Context

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to major restrictions globally, affecting people’s psychosocial health and their health behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this scoping review was to summarize the available research regarding the nature-health-association in the COVID-19 context. Keywords related to natural environments and COVID-19 were combined to conduct a systematic online search in six major databases. Eligibility criteria were a) published since 2020 with data collected in the COVID-19 context b) peer-reviewed, c) original empirical data collected on human participants, d) investigated the association between natural environments and psychosocial health or health behavior, and e) English, German, or Scandinavian language. Out of 8,568 articles being obtained, we identified 82 relevant articles representing 80 unique studies. Most studies focused on adults in the general population and were predominantly conducted in the USA and Europe. Overall, the findings tentatively indicate that nature mitigates the impact of COVID-19 on psychological health and physical activity. Through thematic analysis of the extracted data, three primary themes were identified: 1) type of nature assessed, 2) psychosocial health and health behaviors investigated, and 3) heterogeneity in the nature-health relationship. Research gaps in the COVID-19 context were identified regarding I) nature characteristics that promote psychosocial health and health behaviors, II) investigations of digital and virtual nature, III) psychological constructs relating to mental health promotion, IV) health behaviors other than physical activity, V) underlying mechanisms regarding heterogeneity in the nature-health relationship based on human, nature, and geographic characteristics, and VI) research focusing on vulnerable groups. Overall, natural environments demonstrate considerable potential in buffering the impact of stressful events on a population level on mental health. However, future research is warranted to fill the mentioned research gaps and to examine the long-term effects of nature exposure during COVID-19.

Nature exposure and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Navigation Guide systematic review with meta-analysis

“…Our analyses and evaluation complement existing systematic (Labib et al, 2022) and scoping reviews (Heckert & Bristowe, 2021;Nigg et al, 2021) conducted throughout the pandemic on the effects of nature and green spaces on mental health. These effects also reinforce pre-COVID-19 research that observed similar health outcomes in more general contexts (Lackey et al, 2021).…”

“…Although several previous reviews have examined the evidence regarding associations between nature exposure and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic (Labib et al, 2022;Nigg et al, 2021), this is the first study to conduct a robust review of these relationships that accounts for the risk of bias and the quality of evidence presented. Fifty-nine articles published over nearly two-and-half years of High the pandemic were evaluated, assessing 12 unique mental health outcomes accounting for up to four different dimensions of nature exposure: nature availability, access to nature, contact with nature, and nature at home.…”

The present situation and the trend of development of urban public green space in the post-pandemic era

“…The answer could be important because it will influence the pattern of our urban design in the near future. Large flexible spaces can be seen as a valuable resource as they have so many uses, like an evacuation site during an earthquake or other kinds of catastrophe [5]. In Vancouver, New York, and London, large green spaces and convention centers have been transformed into emergency field hospitals.…”

“…In other words, since public parks do not have monetary value and take up large swaths of land, there is little incentive for self-interested private developers to provide them within a free market without government intervention. So the size of the green space mainly depends on the policies of local governments and residents' demands [5].…”

Áreas Verdes Urbanas Na Cidade De João Pessoa/Pb E a Pandemia Da Covid-19:

“…Diante disso, as áreas verdes urbanas tornaram-se muito importantes para a boa disposição mental e física das populações urbanas durante a pandemia. No entanto, os decretos que determinaram o isolamento social influenciaram o comportamento humano em relação às áreas verdes (NIGG;PETERSEN;MACINTYRE, 2021). Dependendo das medidas de contenção em vigor, algumas pessoas frequentaram menos as áreas verdes e outras mais (DERKS;GIESSEN;WINKEL, 2020;UGOLINI et al, 2020;VENTER et al, 2020).…”