Residential green space is associated with a buffering effect on stress responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in mothers of young children, a prospective study.

Abstract

Green spaces are associated with increased well-being and reduced risk of developing psychiatric disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate how residential proximity to green spaces was associated with stress response buffering during the COVID-19 pandemic in a prospective cohort of young mothers. We collected information on stress in 766 mothers (mean age: 36.6 years) from the ENVIR ON AGE birth cohort at baseline of the study (from 2010 onwards), and during the COVID-19 pandemic (from December 2020 until May 2021). Self-reported stress responses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were the outcome measure. Green space was quantified in several radiuses around the residence based on high-resolution (1 m 2 ) data. Using ordinal logistic regression, we estimated the odds of better resistance to reported stress, while controlling for age, socio-economic status, stress related to care for children, urbanicity, and household change in income during the pandemic. In sensitivity analyses we corrected for pre-pandemic stress levels, BMI, physical activity, and changes in health-related habits during the pandemic. We found that for an inter-quartile range contrast in residential green space 300 m and 500 m around the residence, participants were respectively 24% (OR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.03 to 1.51) and 29% (OR = 1.29, 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.60) more likely to be in a more resistant category, independent of the aforementioned factors. These results remained robust after additionally controlling for pre-pandemic stress levels, BMI, physical activity, smoking status, urbanicity, psychological disorders, and changes in health-related habits during the pandemic. This prospective study in young mothers highlights the importance of proximity to green spaces, especially during challenging times.

Civil society’s perception of forest ecosystem services. A case study in the Western Alps

“…Indeed, except for regulating services, which were of primary importance in both studies, cultural services received more recognition than provisioning services in our case. This could be attributable to the socio-demographic characteristics of our sample or, to the effects induced by the pandemic, which promoted greater frequentation of forests and natural environments, especially for recreational purposes or psychophysical wellbeing, as confirmed by several authors (Bamwesigye et al, 2021;Hansen et al, 2022;Jarský et al, 2022;Vos et al, 2022).…”

Epigenome-wide analysis of maternal exposure to green space during gestation and cord blood DNA methylation in the ENVIRONAGE cohort

“…As detailed in the respective references, average maternal exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μg/m³ (PM 2.5 ) during pregnancy (in mg/m 3 ) ( Wang et al, 2020 ) and urbanicity (urban, suburban, and rural) ( Vos et al, 2022 ) were estimated based on the maternal residential address at birth obtained from questionnaires and then geocoded. In brief, PM 2.5 exposure was estimated using a spatiotemporal interpolation method, taking into account both land-cover data and pollution data from fixed monitoring stations in combination with a dispersion model ( Janssen et al, 2008 ; Lefebvre et al, 2011 , 2013 ) and daily values were averaged over the entire pregnancy ( Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In brief, PM 2.5 exposure was estimated using a spatiotemporal interpolation method, taking into account both land-cover data and pollution data from fixed monitoring stations in combination with a dispersion model ( Janssen et al, 2008 ; Lefebvre et al, 2011 , 2013 ) and daily values were averaged over the entire pregnancy ( Wang et al, 2020 ). Urbanicity at the maternal residential address was based on the statistical sector of the Flemish Government–Department Environment map and classified as urban, suburban, and rural areas depending on population density, employment, location, and spatial planning ( Vos et al, 2022 ).…”

Durations of virtual exposure to built and natural landscapes impact self-reported stress recovery: evidence from three countries

“…Empirical evidence has revealed positive relationships between exposure to various forms of nature and human health. (Bratman et al 2019;Hartig et al 2014;Vos et al 2022;Yang et al 2021). One underlying mechanism of nature's health benefits is stress recovery (Bratman et al 2019;Hartig et al 2014).…”