Contact with blue-green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown beneficial for mental health.

ABSTRACT: There is growing evidence that ecosystem services and especially the exposure to the natural world (blue-green spaces) have potential benefits for mental health and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to control it provide a natural experiment to investigate the links between nature exposure and mental health under extreme conditions. Using a survey distributed online, we tested the following hypotheses: 1) People will show greater symptoms of depression and anxiety under lockdown conditions that did not allow contact with outdoor nature spaces; 2) Where access to public outdoor nature spaces was strictly restricted, (2a) those with green/blue nature view or (2b) access to private outdoor spaces such as a garden or balcony will show fewer symptoms of depression and a

SUBMITTER: Pouso S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7688424 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature