Exploring the benefits of regular exposure to the natural environment to university students' mental health

Abstract

The current study intended to investigate into the correlational relationships between exposure to natural environment and mental health, and how the individual traits of mindfulness, connectedness to nature and gratitude could influence such effect. One-hundred-and-fourteen university students completed a questionnaire that contains scales measuring the abovementioned variables. Results suggested that exposure to natural environment were negatively correlated to the severity of depression symptoms. An indirect effect was found between the level of exposure to nature environment and severity of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, mediated by level of mindfulness traits. In addition, this indirect effect was moderated by participants’ level of connectedness to nature. On the other hand, an indirect effect was found between perceived percentage of time exposed to nature environment and severity of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, mediated by level of simple appreciation. Connectedness to nature was found to be correlated to gratitude and mental health.