Stress Response and Cognitive Performance Modulation in Classroom versus Natural Environments: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study with Children

Abstract

Stress during childhood can have mental and somatic health influences that track throughout life. Previous research attributes stress-reducing effects to natural environments, but has mainly focused on adults and often following leisurely relaxation in natural environments. This pilot study explores the impact of natural environments on stress response during rest and mental load and cognitive performance in 47 children aged 10–12 years in a school context. Heart rate variability measures indexing tonic, event, and phasic vagal tone and attention scores were compared across classroom and natural environments. Tonic vagal tone was higher in the natural environment than the classrooms, but no differences were found in event or phasic vagal tone or cognitive performance measures. These findings suggest a situational aspect of the conditions under which natural environments may give rise to stress-buffering influences. Further research is warranted to understand the potential benefits in a real-life context, in particular with respect to the underpinning mechanisms and effects of accumulated exposure over time in settings where children spend large proportions of time in natural environments.

Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence

“…Experimental studies focusing on children or youth are sparse [ 20 , 21 ]. One quasi-experimental study conducted in 10–12 year-olds in a school setting examined the influence of natural environments on stress response [ 22 ]. The researchers observed higher tonic vagal tone, a measure of heart rate variability, in natural environments but found no associations with event or phasic vagal tone.…”

“…Exposure to natural environments has also been studied in relation to the self-reported affective state, or the underlying experience of feeling, emotion or mood. Although study measures vary, studies among adults have generally observed relationships between exposure to natural environments and affective state, with positive associations with positive emotions and negative associations with negative emotions [ 16 , 22 , 23 ]. A study randomly assigned sixty adults to a 50-min walk in either a natural or an urban environment in Palo Alto, California, and found that compared to urban experience, nature experience led to affective benefits (decreased anxiety, rumination, and negative affect, and preservation of positive affect) as well as cognitive benefits (increased working memory performance) [ 23 ].…”

High Exploratory Phenotype Rats Exposed to Environmental Stressors Present Memory Deficits Accompanied by Immune-Inflammatory/Oxidative Alterations: Relevance to the Relationship Between Temperament and Mood Disorders

“…Taken together, our data suggest that the temperament itself induces working and declarative memory dysfunctions that are exacerbated by repeated and intermittent exposure to PSD+US. Indeed, extensive studies have shown an association between sleep deprivation (66–68) or US (69–72) and cognitive processes in humans and animals (73–77). In line with our findings, various studies have shown sleep deprivation-induced learning and memory impairments in different tests, such as avoidance tasks (78–80), Morris water maze (81, 82), radial maze (73), and the plus-maze discriminative avoidance tasks (83–85).…”

Outdoor Recreation within the School Setting: A Physiological and Psychological Exploration

“…Emerging evidence also suggests that psychological benefits may be amplified if recess occurs in natural environments. This is mainly due to the stress-reductions experienced by children when in nature [79].…”