Green nature effect on stress response and stress eating in the lab: Color versus environmental content

Michels, Nathalie; Witte, Fien De; Bisceglie, Eline Di; Seynhaeve, Maya; Vandebuerie, Tori

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110589

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Furthermore, green nature pictures specifically (relative to black–white nature) had positive effects on happiness recovery during a stress induction, suggesting that specific visual characteristics of nature exposure are important. However despite this, and consistent with our results, Michels et al (2021) did not find an effect of nature exposure on snack food consumption.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…This cognitive restoration may facilitate better self-regulation, including in relation to diet. Notably, Michels et al (2021) found that nature images were rated as higher in restorative power than urban images. Furthermore, green nature pictures specifically (relative to black–white nature) had positive effects on happiness recovery during a stress induction, suggesting that specific visual characteristics of nature exposure are important.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Change of Scenery: Does Exposure to Images of Nature Affect Delay Discounting and Food Desirability?

et al. 2021

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Previous research suggests that exposure to nature may reduce delay discounting (the tendency to discount larger future gains in favor of smaller immediate rewards) and thereby facilitate healthier dietary intake. This pre-registered study examined the impact of online exposure to images of natural scenes on delay discounting and food preferences. It was predicted that exposure to images of natural scenes (vs. images of urban scenes) would be associated with: (i) lower delay discounting; (ii) higher desirability for fruits and vegetables (and lower desirability for more energy-dense foods); and (iii) delay discounting would mediate the effect of nature-image exposure on food desirability. Adult participants (N = 109) were recruited to an online between-subjects experiment in which they viewed a timed sequence of six images either showing natural landscape scenes or urban scenes. They then completed measures of mood, delay discounting (using a five-trial hypothetical monetary discounting task) and rated their momentary desire to eat four fruits and vegetables (F&V), and four energy-dense foods. There was no statistically significant effect of experimental condition (natural vs. urban image exposure) on delay discounting or food desirability. Bayes factors supported the null hypothesis for discounting (BF01 = 4.89), and energy-dense food desirability (BF01 = 7.21), but provided no strong evidence for either hypothesis for F&V desirability (BF01 = 0.78). These findings indicate that brief online exposure to images of nature does not affect momentary impulsivity or energy-dense food preference, whereas for preference for less-energy dense foods, the evidence was inconclusive.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Change of Scenery: Does Exposure to Images of Nature Affect Delay Discounting and Food Desirability?

et al. 2021

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“…Thereafter, the services of nature have been gradually revealed, and visual stimulus was found to play a key role in human–nature interactions [ 2 ], which may effectively improve psychophysiological states [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to deliver nature stimuli via video or image [ 6 , 7 ], and some visual images of nature were found to elicit similar effects as viewing real nature [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Residential Greenspace Exposure Improve Pain Experience? A Comparison between Physical Visit and Image Viewing

Zhang

et al. 2021

Healthcare

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Reducing the burden of pain via greenspace exposure is a rising research topic. However, insufficient evidence has been found in relation to the environmental effect itself. Residential greenspace, as a convenient but limited natural environment for urban dwellers, has benefits and services yet to be discovered. Therefore, the current study recruited 24 young adults to evaluate the effects of physical visit to, or image viewing of, residential greenspace on pain perception and related psychophysiological outcomes, via simulated pain. Pain threshold and tolerance were recorded via the level of pain stimuli, and pain intensity was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The state scale of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and two adjective pairs were employed to measure the state anxiety and subjective stress, respectively. Meanwhile, heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and blood pressure (BP) were measured to investigate physiological responses. Besides, Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) was also employed to assess participants’ preference regarding the experimental environments. The results revealed that visiting the greenspace significantly increased the pain threshold and tolerance, while no significant effect was observed for image viewing. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in pain-related psychophysiological indices between the experimental settings, but significantly negative associations were found between the scores of SBE and subjective stress and state anxiety. In conclusion, the current study brings experimental evidence of improving pain experience via residential greenspace exposure, while the related psychophysiological benefits require further investigation.

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“…Fourth, the optimal timing of measures in the experimental procedure was thwarted by the combined testing of odor effects on non-stress situations, stress reactivity and stress recovery during a single experiment. Since there is a 15 min lag between stress report peak and cortisol peak (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004; Kirschbaum et al, 1993; Michels et al, 2021), saliva samples 1 and 2 were ideally taken a little later: current sample 1 timing might still reflect some stress from study start and current sample 2 timing might only reflect the effects of the first minutes of odor exposure. However, we do not expect a critical impact on our results because a significant cortisol reduction upon exposure was seen in the nature olfactory exposure groups and not in the control group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Related Odors Influence Stress and Eating Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment With Pine and Grass Volatiles

Michels,

Boudrez,

Lamprea Pineda

et al. 2023

Environment and Behavior

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Before and after Trier Social Stress Test, 91 participants (18–50 years, 67% women) inhaled one odor during 10 min: Scots pine, grass (=cis-3-hexenol), or control (=demineralized water). Group differences were tested on repeated measurements of stress (affect reports, salivary cortisol and heart rate variability) and eating behavior (food choice and craving). Both nature olfactory exposures improved some stress outcomes. Both were associated with lower cortisol in non-stress conditions, but only grass odor was more beneficial for negative affect decrease after stress. No effect on heart rate variability was seen. Some contradictory findings were present for eating behavior. In non-stress situations, grass odor increased vegetable preference, while the pine odor group had higher sweet high-fat snack preference. Grass odor was also reported to induce healthier food choices. During stress recovery, both pine and grass odor groups had higher preference to sweet high-fat snacks.

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Green nature effect on stress response and stress eating in the lab: Color versus environmental content

Cited by 15 publications

References 50 publications

A Change of Scenery: Does Exposure to Images of Nature Affect Delay Discounting and Food Desirability?

A Change of Scenery: Does Exposure to Images of Nature Affect Delay Discounting and Food Desirability?

Can Residential Greenspace Exposure Improve Pain Experience? A Comparison between Physical Visit and Image Viewing

Nature-Related Odors Influence Stress and Eating Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment With Pine and Grass Volatiles

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