the effects of green exercise on stress, anxiety and mood

Green exercise

James T. Neill
Graham Mackay
Brent Holgate
Amy Rugendyke
Centre for Applied Psychology
University of Canberra

47th Annual Australian Psychological Society Conference,
27-30 Sept, 2012, Perth, Western Australia

The effects of
green exercise on
stress, anxiety and mood:
The role of perceived greenness,
exercise cognitions, and
connection to nature

Creative Commons Attribution

Public domain

The effects of green exercise on stress, anxiety and mood: The role of perceived greenness, exercise cognitions, and connection to natureJames T. NeillGraham MackayBrent HolgateAmy Rugendyke
Centre for Applied Psychology
University of Canberra27-30 September, 2012, 47th Annual Australian Psychological Society Conference, 27-30 September, 2012, Perth, Western Australia

This presentation is copyright by the authors and available under Creative Commons Attribution (CC-by-A), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ license.

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Abstract

There is growing interest in and recognition of the importance of the natural environment in peoples physical and psychological well-being. We have known for some time that physical exercise is vital for well-being and also that spending time in relatively natural environments has calming, restorative effects (Maller et al., 2008). What happens when physical exercise is combined with natural environments is now being studied as green exercise. Early field and lab-based green exercise studies identified short-term improvements in self-esteem and mood. However, much remains unknown about the mechanisms by which green exercise may create positive effects, the range of psychological impacts, and what types of green exercise can be recommended. In a series of related field studies, the pioneering green exercise research by Jules Pretty and colleagues at the University of Essex (e.g., Barton & Pretty, 2010), has been followed up and extended at the University of Canberra (e.g., Mackay & Neill, 2010), with findings indicating moderate that positive effects on stress, anxiety and mood can be partially explained by perceived greenness, cognitions during exercise, and connectedness to nature, whilst duration and intensity of exercise tends not to predict measured outcomes. This presentation will describe three related green exercise field studies conducted at the University of Canberra, each involving over 10 naturally occurring green exercise groups, with sample sizes over 100 participants. Moderated effects on measured outcomes (stress, anxiety, and mood) are evident, with novel measures developed for these studies to investigate perceived and desired environmental greenness, environmental cognitions during exercise, and Mayer and Frantzs (2004) measure of connectedness to exercise, offering potential insight into recommended mechanisms for enhancing positive psychological change. Through such studies, green exercise appears to be emerging as a promising, evidence-based, low-cost, preventative and rehabilitative psychological and physical health strategy, with greater understanding about green exercise processes and effects likely to be developed through further replication and application of other research methodologies.

Green exercise:
APS 2012 paper webpage

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Overview

What is green exercise?

Effects and mechanisms of:Exercise

Nature

Research questions

University of Essex studies

University of Canberra studies

Summary

Recommendations

Discussion

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What is green exercise?

Physical exercise
performed in (relatively)
natural settings.

There is growing interest in, and recognition of, the importance of the natural environment in peoples physical and psychological well-being. We have also known for some time that physical exercise is vital for well-being.In addition, there is evidence that spending time in relatively natural environments has calming, restorative effects (Maller et al., 2008).What happens when physical exercise is combined with natural environments is now being studied as green exercise. Image source:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:What_is_green_exercise.svgImage author: James Neill, 2009Image license: Public domain

Examples of green exercise

Mountain
biking

Canoeing

Fitness
trails

Gardening

Gardening

ImageSource: http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/File:Mountain_bike_ParcoSibillini.jpgLicense: CC-by-A 3.0Author: scattata da F.Grifoni per conto di Laura Fortunato (Archila')

ImageSource:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conway_lake_canoeing.JPGLicense: Public domainAuthor: Jane023, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jane023Date: 27 July 2004

ImageSource: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanchom/2963072255/License:Creative Commons Share-Alike 2.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.enAuthor: sanchom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanchom/

ImageSource: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexindigo/2539923774/License: CC-by-A 2.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.enAuthor: alexindigo, http://www.flickr.com/people/alexindigo/

Exercise:
Effects

15 to 30+ min. bouts of moderate intensity aerobic exercise are associated with well-demonstrated physical and psychological health benefits (mood, anxiety, stress).

Some studies show benefits from less intense exercise.

Viewing nature: positively associated with psychological well-being

Being in nature: Being in the presence of nature

Active participation/involvement with nature

Ulrich's hospital study, posters in workplace reduced anger and stressNeighbourhood greenness related positively to mental healthOutwood bound programs found to increase self-esteem, involvement in nature doesnt always have to be active, e.g. gardening found to be psychologically beneficial

Exercise:
Mechanisms

Thermogenic changes

Cardiovascular conditioning

Neurobiological
(endorphins; norepinephrine)

Distraction

Mastery (self-efficacy)

Nature:
Effects

There are positive physical and psychological health benefits of:Viewing nature
(e.g., through window)

Being in presence of nature
(e.g., access to green spaces)

Active participation and involvement with nature
(e.g., gardening, green exercise)

Viewing nature: positively associated with psychological well-being

Being in nature: Being in the presence of nature

Active participation/involvement with nature

Ulrich's hospital study, posters in workplace reduced anger and stressNeighbourhood greenness related positively to mental healthOutwood bound programs found to increase self-esteem, involvement in nature doesnt always have to be active, e.g. gardening found to be psychologically beneficial

Nature:
Mechanisms

Psycho-evolutionary theories Biophilia hypothesis (Wilson)

Nature-deficit disorder (Louv)

Restorative theories Psychophysiological stress recovery theory (Ulrich; Hartig)

Attention restoration theory (Kaplan & Kaplan)

Urbanisation: Increasing numbers of people living in urban environments and the development of theory and research about the restorative effects and benefits of nature on mental and physical well-being

Psychophysiological stress recovery theory: Affective and aesthetic response to visual stimuliIt proposes that restoration may occur if a scene elicits feelings of mild to moderate interest, pleasantness, and calm, and that whilst viewing nature, positive affect replaces negative affect resulting in lower physiological arousal (Hartig, 2004). Hartig explains that when an environment is unthreatening, aesthetically pleasing and elicits feelings of interest, restorative functioning occurs allowing a shift toward a more positive psychological state. This theory suggests that individual responses to nature have an important physiological component, impacting psychological changes (Ulrich, 1983). (Rugendyke, 2012)Attention restoration theory: Recovery from directed attention fatigue

Kaplan and Kaplan's (1989) Attention Restoration Theory suggests that nature provides cognitive restoration by allowing attention-focusing capacities to rest. Central to this theory is directed attention whereby an individual can use voluntary control and sort unimportant from important information, minimise distraction and select appropriate focus (Kaplan, 2001). Becoming over-stimulated in urban settings may result in fatigue of directed attention and restorative environments, such as natural settings may aid in the recovery of directed attention. Thus, nature can provide a restorative experience, involving relaxation and allowing an individual to become revitalised and refreshed (Kaplan, & Kaplan, 1989; Kaplan, 2001). Kaplan suggests that four elements must be present in an environment for restoration to occur. These are: temporary escape from ones normal environment, a sense of interest that captures attention effortlessly, engagement in surroundings whilst having coherence of being part of a larger whole and an environment that is fitting with individual preference. Consistent with this theory, psychological benefits of green exercise may arguably be affected by ones awareness/cognitions (directed attention) of the environment and ones preference for nature (connectedness with nature). (Rugendyke, 2012)

Green exercise:
Research questions

What are the effects of
green exercise?How and why
do any effects occur?What psychological processes are critical?

Green exercise research:
Jules Pretty, University of Essex

Lab study
(Pretty et al., 2005)

Field study
(Pretty et al., 2007)

Meta-analysis
(Barton & Pretty, 2010)

http://www.julespretty.com
http://greenexercise.org

Pretty et al.'s (2005)
Lab study design

N = 100 randomly allocated to: 4 experimental group + 1 control group

20 min. fairly light treadmill run whilst viewing a sequence of 30 scenes on a screen

Pre- and post-exercise physiological measures (blood pressure, heart rate) and questionnaires (self-esteem, POMS).

Experimental groups:
4 types of scenes

PleasantUnpleasant

UrbanUrban-Pleasant (e.g., tall buildings with sky reflected in water)Urban-Unpleasant (e.g., city scene with broken windows and graffiti)

RuralRural-Pleasant (e.g., countryside with trees and water)Rural-Unpleasant (e.g., countryside with abandoned car)

Control group ran on treadmill with no images

Images are from Pretty et al. (2005).

Lab study results

Rural pleasant group reported the most positive outcomes: all 3 measures of blood pressure

self-esteem

Mood: vigour

confusion-bewilderment

tension-anxiety

No rural pleasant effects for Anger-Hostility, Depression-Dejection, Fatigue-Inertia

N = 263 from 10 pre-existing outdoor activity groups, UK

Outcomes from pre-post surveys: Mood (for 4 of 6 scales)

Self-esteem

No predictive effects of: Type of activity

Exercise intensity

Exercise duration

Field study design & results

Horse riding, cycling, bushwalking etc.

N = 1252 from 10 UK green exercise studies. Outcomes: Self-esteem (d = .46)

Mood (d = .54)

Irrespective of duration, intensity, location, gender, age, and health status.

Health benefits from any short engagement in green exercise.

Barton & Pretty's (2010)
meta-analysis results

Horse riding, cycling, bushwalking etc.

University of Canberra
Green Exercise Studies

Psychology honours studies extending on Pretty et al.'s (2007) field study:Mackay (2008); Mackay & Neill (2010)

Holgate (2010)

Rugendyke (2012)

Dependent
variables (pre-post): Stress / anxiety

MoodPositive affect

Negative affect

Independent
variables: Greenness
(naturalness)

Cognitions
during exercise

Connectedness
to nature

Mackay (2008): Design

N = 101 participants from 8 pre-existing outdoor exercise groups

Dependent variables (Pre and post) Stress (Perceived Stress Scale;
Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein, 1983)

Anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Spielberger, 1983)

Independent variablesActivity Type, Duration, Intensity, Greenness

Road cycling, Mountain running, Orienteering, Cross-country running, Boxercise, Mountain biking, Kayaking, Bushwalking

The green exercise groups

In the bush capital of Australia, 2008

Duration

Range = 10 to 220 mins, N = 84

Average =
90 mins

Stress

10-item scale about current stress level

Anxiety

20-item scale about current anxiety level

Greenness rating scale

Rating scale about
perceived environmental naturalness

Greenness

Average = 8.2

Intensity: Borg scale

Intensity

Light

Hard

Very
hard

Somewhat hard

Average = 14.7

Mackay (2008): Results

Outcomes Stress (d = .38)

Anxiety (d = .51)

Predictors* Activity Type positive effects for all except the 2 running groups

Greenness small, positive effect i.e., greener the perceived environment, greater anxiety reductions

= Duration no effect

= Intensity no effect

N = 114 from 13 indoor and outdoor exercise groups in the ACT

Dependent variables: Mood
(negative affect, vitality, happiness)

Independent variables Cognitive strategies
(associative, dissociative, environmental)

Exercise characteristics
(Greenness, Socialness, Intensity, Competitiveness, Expertise, Frequency)

Holgate (2010): Design

Outcomes and predictors Negative affect (d = .62) No predictors

Vitality (d = .57) Predicted by Env. cognition ( = .24)

Global happiness (d = .29)Predicted by Intensity ( = .16)

Holgate (2010): Results

N = 105 from 5 ACT outdoor exercise groups

Dependent variables: Stress (PSS)

Mood (PANAS)

Independent variables: Connectedness to nature (CNS; Mayer & Frantz, 2004)

Environmental cognition (EC)

Rugendyke (2012): Design

Outcomes Stress (d = .65)

Mood Negative affect (d = .70)

Positive affect (d = .67)

Predictors= Connected to nature no effect

= Env. cognition no effect

Controlled for cognitions (dissociative & associative), demographic & exercise characteristics

Rugendyke (2012): Results

Exercise groups: Running, Bush walking, Casual walking, Orienteering, Soccer trainingPerceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamark & Mermelstein, 1983)Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988)Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS; Mayer & Frantz, 2004).Participant cognitions during exercise were measured using the 23-item scale adapted by Holgate (2010). This measure asked participants to rate the extent to which Associative, Dissociative, and Environmental Cognitions were engaged in. The measure included 14 items from the Attentional Focus Questionnaire (AFQ; Brewer et al., 1996).

UC studies found moderate short-term improvements in +ve and -ve indicators of psychological well-being.

Results congruent with UK green exercise research (Barton & Pretty, 2010; Pretty et al., 2005, 2007)

Summary


Predictors: Greenness weak effect - may enhance some outcomes

? Cognitions weak effect environmental cognitions may enhance some outcomes

? Activity Type weak, occasional effect

= Intensity little to no effect

= Duration - no effect

= Connectedness to Nature - no effect

Summary


Recommendations

Green exercise participants report psychological benefits.

Incorporate pleasant natural exercise spaces and trails into urban areas.

Further research (using a variety of methods) is needed about psychological processes that underlie green exercise effects.

Incorporate pleasant natural exercise spaces and trails into urban areas which allow for several hours of experience and are as natural as possible.

References

Cohen, J., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of health and Social Psychology, 24, 385-396.Holgate, B. (2010). The role of cognitive strategies and green exercise characteristics as predictors of mood effects in green exercise. Unpublished honours thesis, University of Canberra, Australia.Mackay, G. (2008). The effect of green exercise on state stress and anxiety. Unpublished honours thesis, University of Canberra, Australia.Mackay, G. J. S., & Neill, J. T. (2010). The effect of green exercise on state anxiety and the role of exercise duration, intensity, and greenness: A quasi-experimental study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11, 238-245.Mayer, F. S., & Frantz, C. M. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 503-515. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.10.001Neill, J. T. (2009). Green exercise: The psychological effects of exercising in nature. Presentation to the Annual Outdoor Recreation Industry Council Conference, August 15-16, SydneyPretty, J., Peacock, J., Sellens, M., & Griffen, M. (2005). The mental and physical health outcomes of green exercise. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 15, 319-337.Pretty, J., Peacock, J., Hine, R., Sellens, M., South, N., & Griffen, M. (2007). Green exercise in the UK countryside: Effects on health and psychological well-being, and implications for policy and planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 50, 211-231.Rugendyke, A. (2012). Green exercise, stress and mood: The role of connectedness to nature and environmental cognition. Unpublished honours thesis, University of Canberra, Australia.Spielberger, C. D. (1983). State-trait anxiety inventory for adults: Sample set, manual, test, scoring key. California: Mind Garden.

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