4163 - OUTCOMES AND MECHANISMS OF NATURE-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY WITH ALTERNATIVE SETTING-ACTIVITY COMBINATIONS

Session: 4159 - BOTANICAL GARDENS: VITAL SETTINGS FOR ENVIRONMENT-BEHAVIOR RESEARCH IN A TIME OF POLYCRISIS
AUTHORS:
Wang Xinxin ( Department of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Agricultural University ~ Nanjing ~ China) , Lymeus Freddie (Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University ~ Uppsala ~ Sweden) , Yu Wenjun ( Department of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Agricultural University ~ Nanjing ~ China) , Hartig Terry (Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University ~ Uppsala ~ Sweden)
Abstract text:
Restorative experiences derived from nature-based interventions can help
address resource inadequacies that lead to stress and anxiety. Understanding
how setting-activity combinations generate restorative experiences that
produce immediate relief and long-term outcomes allows us to optimize
interventions for individuals seeking anxiety relief.

This presentation covers studies that assessed the effects of therapeutic
recreation and therapeutic horticulture interventions on Chinese university
students who frequently experience anxiety symptoms. The studies aimed to
explore how nature-based interventions in small groups can provide
restorative experiences in the therapeutic process and to examine potential
mediating factors.

In two randomized trials (N1 = 40; N2 = 205), we compared outcomes of three
different nature-based interventions for stress and anxiety, including one
characteristic of therapeutic recreation (forest activities) and two characteristic
of therapeutic horticulture interventions (activities with plant materials, either
indoors or outdoors). In contrast to the first trial, the second trial included a
self-selected activity control group. The study design and measures enabled
analyses of changes in acute stress and state anxiety from before to after
each of five sessions held across the weeks of intervention (with restorative
quality as mediator), changes in generalized anxiety across the sessions (with
acute de-stressed feelings as mediator), and changes in social anxiety across
the sessions (with group cohesion as mediator).
Both trials showed significant reductions in acute stress and state anxiety,
particularly for the outdoor setting-activity combinations. In the second trial,
intervention groups exhibited greater reductions in state, general, and social
anxiety than the self-selected activity group, with restorative quality, acute de
stressed feelings, and group cohesion mediating these effects. We discuss
how these studies can guide both the development and evaluation of nature
based interventions in botanical gardens.