Dataset Information

The Feasibility and Impact of Practising Online Forest Bathing to Improve Anxiety, Rumination, Social Connection and Long-COVID Symptoms: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Long-COVID affects over 144 million people globally. In the absence of treatments, there is a need to establish the efficacy of therapies that improve patient outcomes. Forest bathing has been demonstrated to improve physical and mental outcomes but there is no evidence in Long-COVID patients. Accordingly, this pilot study sought to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of online forest bathing in adults with Long-COVID.

Methods

Feasibility was assessed by monitoring retention rates and participant feedback. In a waitlist controlled, repeated measures design, 22 Long-COVID patients completed weekly online surveys during a four-week waitlist control period, before engaging in four weekly online forest bathing sessions, completing post-intervention surveys following each session.

Results

In terms of retention, 27% did not provide post-intervention data, reasons for non-adherence were: feeling too ill, having medical appointments, or having career responsibilities. Compared with the waitlist control period, there were statistically significant improvements in Anxiety (49% decrease), Rumination (48% decrease), Social Connection (78% increase), and Long-COVID symptoms (22% decrease). Written qualitative comments indicated that participants experienced feelings of calm and joy, felt more connected socially and with nature, and experienced a break from the pain and rumination surrounding their illness.

Conclusions

Online Forest bathing resulted in significant improvements in well-being and symptom severity and could be considered an accessible and inexpensive adjunct therapy for Long-COVID patients. Where people have limited access to in-person nature, virtual nature may offer an alternative to improve health and well-being outcomes.

SUBMITTER: McEwan K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9691063 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The Feasibility and Impact of Practising Online Forest Bathing to Improve Anxiety, Rumination, Social Connection and Long-COVID Symptoms: A Pilot Study.

McEwan Kirsten K Collett Harriet H Nairn Jean J Bird Jamie J Faghy Mark A MA Pfeifer Eric E Jackson Jessica E JE Cook Caroline C Bond Amanda A

International journal of environmental research and public health 20221112 22

<h4>Background</h4>Long-COVID affects over 144 million people globally. In the absence of treatments, there is a need to establish the efficacy of therapies that improve patient outcomes. Forest bathing has been demonstrated to improve physical and mental outcomes but there is no evidence in Long-COVID patients. Accordingly, this pilot study sought to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of online forest bathing in adults with Long-COVID.<h4>Methods</h4>Feasibility was assessed by monitor ...[more]

PMID: 36429623

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Project description:BackgroundDue to tremendous academic pressure, Chinese high school students suffer from severe depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Moreover, senior high school students commonly face more serious mental health problems than junior high school students. However, the co-occurrence and internal relationships of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances clusters are scarcely examined among high students. Therefore, the current study inspected relationships between depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance symptoms through network analysis and identified key symptoms bolstering the correlation and intensifying the syndromes.MethodsA total of 13,999 junior high school students (M age = 13.42 years, SD age = 1.35, 50% females) and 12,550 senior high school students (M age = 16.93 years, SD age = 1.67, 47% females) were recruited in Harbin. We constructed networks for all students, junior high group, and senior high group, including data from the Youth Self-rating Insomnia Scale-3 (YSIS-3), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). The indices of "strength" was used to identify symptoms' centrality, and "bridge strength" was used to find specific nodes that could bridge anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance.ResultsThe networks of all students, junior high and senior high students, were stable and accurate. Among all networks, "Nervousness" (GAD1) had the highest strength, and "Nervousness"-"Excessive worry" (GAD1-GAD2) had the strongest correlation. "Nervousness" (GAD1) also functioned as the bridge symptom among junior high students, while "Sad mood" (PHQ2) among senior high students. Senior high students scored higher than junior high students on all items and had a tighter network structure.ConclusionsIn networks consisting of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance, anxiety plays a conspicuous role in comorbidity among junior high school students, which transforms into depression among senior high school students. Treatments or interventions should be focused on these critical symptoms.

Dataset Information

The Feasibility and Impact of Practising Online Forest Bathing to Improve Anxiety, Rumination, Social Connection and Long-COVID Symptoms: A Pilot Study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The Feasibility and Impact of Practising Online Forest Bathing to Improve Anxiety, Rumination, Social Connection and Long-COVID Symptoms: A Pilot Study.

Similar Datasets

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