The Effects of an Urban Forest Health Intervention Program on Physical Activity, Substance Abuse, Psychosomatic Symptoms, and Life Satisfaction among Adolescents

Abstract

Background: At-risk adolescents have been defined as youth who are or might be in physical, mental, or emotional danger. An Urban Forest Health Intervention Program (UFHIP) was formed at a center for at-risk adolescents in Israel, in order to promote physical activity and reduce risky behavior. Objective: To evaluate the intervention’s effect on physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, psychosomatic symptoms, and life satisfaction. Methods: From 2015 to 2016, at-risk youth were nonrandomly selected to participate in the UFHIP. Questionnaires were administered to both intervention and control groups before and after the intervention. Univariate and multivariable analyses evaluated the intervention’s effect. Results: The study participants (n = 53) showed 0.81 more sessions per week of 60 min of physical activity than did the control group (n = 23; p = 0.003). Among the intervention group, smoking frequency reduced from a mean of 2.60 (SD = 1.30) to 1.72 (SD = 1.08), whereas that in the control group increased from 3.17 (1.03) to 3.39 (1.03). In both groups, there was a reduction in alcohol consumption, with a greater change among intervention participants: −1.08 (SD = 1.30), compared with −0.09 (SD = 1.79) in the control group. Conclusions: Findings indicate that the environmental intervention was efficacious in increasing physical activity and reducing risky behaviors among youth. The effectiveness of this intervention among larger samples is warranted in future prospective studies.

Risk Behaviors, Family Support, and Emotional Health among Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel

“…Yet another possible explanation is that the COVID-19 restrictions had impaired social connections, thus lessening their protective essence [ 56 , 57 , 58 ]. Although previous studies have linked physical activity with adolescent health risk behaviors [ 59 , 60 ], the present study did not find evidence for such association, possibly due to an overall decrease in physical activity owing to COVID-19, as found in a recent report on young Spanish adults [ 61 ].…”

Green Exercise: How Are Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces Associated with Adolescents’ Physical Activity and Health?

“…Studies, for instance, showed that GE was positively associated with blood pressure, heart rate [42], general health [31], mental health, and cognitive development of children and adolescents [38,43]. Studies also found that GE promotes self-discipline, attention restoration, memory, supportive social groups, competence, moderates stress, and improves behaviors while reducing risky behaviors [43,44]. GE also reduces adiposity of children and adolescents [45,46].…”

Fatores psicossociais relacionados ao engajamento em atividade física: um estudo com trabalhadores

“…Outra variável intrapessoal avaliada no presente estudo foi o uso do álcool. E, apesar da AF se configurar como uma estratégia em potencial para a redução deste uso em pessoas que sofrem com problemas oriundo do consumo abusivo de substancias lícitas e ilícitas (ABRANTES et al, 2017;ROESSLER et al, 2017;TESLER et al, 2018), o maior consumo de álcool foi preditor da AFH, divergindo da hipótese do presente estudo.…”

“…As pesquisas realizadas nesta temática têm focado principalmente adolescentes e jovens (TESLER et al, 2018;VILLALBA et al, 2016;HENCHOZ et al, 2014) estudantes universitários (DAVIS et al, 2017;TABAK, MAZUR, ZAWADZKA, 2015;LEASURE et al, 2014;LISHA et al, 2014) e pessoas com problemas relacionados ao uso de substâncias psicoativas (ABRANTES et al, 2017;ROESSLER et al, 2017). Embora não tenham sido identificadas amostras de trabalhadores, dois estudos foram conduzidos com adultos saudáveis (CONROY et al, 2015;LISHA, MARTENS, LEVENTHAL, 2011).…”

“…Estas pesquisas testaram a relação entre AF e álcool por meio de abordagens transversais (LEISURE et al, 2014LISHA, MARTENS, LEVENTHAL, 2011, TABAK, MAZUR, ZAWADZKA, 2015, longitudinais (CONROY et al, 2015;DAVIS et al, 2017;HENCHOZ et al, 2014;LISHA, CRABO, DELUCCHI, 2014) ou intervenções (ABRANTES et al, 2017;ROESSLER et al, 2017;TESLER et al, 2018). Além disso, foram identificados três estudos de revisão de literatura que apresentaram um amplo panorama acerca da relação entre AF e álcool (LINKE, USSHER, 2015;LEISURE et al, 2015;KWAN et al, 2014).…”