A methodological guide for translating study instruments in cross‐cultural research: Adapting the ‘connectedness to nature’ scale into Chinese

Jørgensen

2021

Preprint

Germaphobia - a pathological aversion to microorganisms - could be contributing to an explosion in human immune-related disorders via mass sterilisation of surfaces and reduced exposure to biodiversity. Loss of biodiversity and our connectedness to nature, along with poor microbial literacy may be augmenting the negative consequences of germaphobia on ecosystem health. In this study, we created an online questionnaire to acquire data on attitudes towards, and knowledge of microbes. We collected data on nature connectedness and interactions with nature and explored the relationships between these variables. We found a significant association between attitudes towards microbes and both duration and frequency of visits to natural environments. A higher frequency of visits to nature per week, and a longer duration spent in nature per visit, significantly associated with positive attitudes towards microbes. We found no association between nature connectedness and attitudes towards microbes. We found a significant relationship between knowledge of "lesser known" microbial groups (e.g., identifying that fungi, algae, protozoa, and archaea are microbes) and positive attitudes towards microbes. However, we also found that people who correctly identified viruses as being microbes expressed less positive views of microbes overall - this could potentially be attributed to a COVID-19 effect. Our results suggest that basic microbial literacy and nature engagement may be important in reducing/preventing germaphobia. The results also suggest that a virus-centric phenomenon (e.g., COVID-19) could increase broader germaphobia. As the rise of immune-related disorders and mental health conditions have been linked to germaphobia, reduced biodiversity, and non-targeted sterilisation, our findings point to a feasible strategy to potentially help ameliorate these negative consequences. A greater emphasis on microbial literacy and promoting time spent in nature could be useful in promoting resilience in human health and more positive/constructive attitudes towards the foundations of our ecosystems - the microorganisms.

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

Germaphobia! Does our Relationship with, and Knowledge of Biodiversity Affect our Attitudes Towards Microbes?

Jørgensen

2021

Preprint

“…Perhaps in terms of our psychological resilience and ability to withstand disease pandemics, this has never been more salient. Indeed, the number and diversity of human infectious diseases outbreaks has increased significantly in the last 40 years [ 18 ]. Furthermore, as urbanisation continues to augment hazardous interfaces for zoonotic pathogen exposure [ 20 ], pandemics are expected to increase in frequency in the future [ 19 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We use online pilot-tested questionnaires with validated wellbeing instruments including the 14-item Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). To assess nature connectedness (one’s affective, cognitive, and experiential connection with the natural world) [ 18 ], we used the 6-item Nature Relatedness scale (NR-6). We also used a geographic information system (GIS) to study how socioecological factors including deprivation (as defined above), presence/abundance of green spaces, and relative greenness may affect wellbeing outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature’s Role in Supporting Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Geospatial and Socioecological Study

Brindley

et al. 2021

IJERPH

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data (n = 1184) on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. The majority of responses came from England, UK (n = 993). We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap-resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 and 250 m around respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and promote planetary health.

“…We use online pilot-tested questionnaires with validated wellbeing instruments including the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing 14-item Scale (WEMWBS) and the Perceived Stress 10-item Scale (PSS). To assess nature connectedness (one's emotional and experiential connection with the natural world) [17] we used the Nature Relatedness 6-item scale . We also used a geographic information system (GIS) to study how socioecological factors including deprivation, presence/abundance of green spaces, and relative greenness, may affect wellbeing outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This corroborates results from 75 previous green space and epidemiological studies [53,9,10] and underscores the multifaceted 76 benefits of engaging with nature. 77 Nature connectedness (one's emotional and experiential connection with the natural world) 78 [17,54], which has previously been shown to associate with enhanced mental wellbeing 79 [55,56], only associated with higher wellbeing before and during the pandemic for male 80 participants. Further research is warranted to elucidate the reasons (and generalisability) for 81 this gender difference and to ascertain the directionality of the association.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature’s Role in Supporting Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Geospatial and Socioecological Study

Brindley

et al. 2021

Preprint

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 m and 250 m of respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and planetary health.