Natural environments, psychosocial health, and health behaviors in a crisis - A scoping review of the literature in the COVID-19 context

Carina Nigg; Evi Petersen; Tadhg MacIntyre

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102009

Natural environments, psychosocial health, and health behaviors in a crisis - A scoping review of the literature in the COVID-19 context

J Environ Psychol. 2023 Jun:88:102009. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102009. Epub 2023 Apr 9.

Authors

Carina Nigg^{1

2}, Evi Petersen^{3

4}, Tadhg MacIntyre^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 145, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
² Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 15, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany.
³ Department of Sports, Physical Education and Outdoor Life, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3800, Bø i, Telemark, Norway.
⁴ Department of Early Childhood Education, Oslo Metropolitan University, Pilestredet 42, 0167, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, Maynooth University, North Campus, W23 F2K8, Maynooth, Ireland.
⁶ Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, Maynooth University, North Campus, W23 F2k8, Maynooth, Ireland.
⁷ TechPA Research Group, Department of Public Health and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway.

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak 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 nature and health in the COVID-19 context. Keywords relating 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 behaviors, and e) English, German, or Scandinavian languages. Out of 9126 articles being screened, we identified 188 relevant articles, representing 187 distinct studies. Most research focused on adults in the general population and was predominantly conducted in the USA, Europe, and China. Overall, the findings indicate that nature may mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on psychological health and physical activity. Through a systematic 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-promoting 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.

Keywords: Blue space; Green space; Mental health; Nature; Sars-Cov-2; Well-being.

Publication types

Review