The effects of walking in nature on negative and positive affect in adult psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder: A randomized-controlled study

Watkins‐Martin, Kia; Bolani, Despina; Richard‐Devantoy, Stéphane; Pennestri, Marie‐Hélène; Malboeuf‐Hurtubise, Catherine; Philippe, Frédérick L.; Guindon, Julie; Gouin, Jean‐Philippe; Ouellet‐Morin, Isabelle; Geoffroy, Marie‐Claude

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.08.121

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Furthermore, more research is needed to clearly disentangle the effects of specific types and intensity levels of physical activity on different mental health and substance use disorders. For instance, a rapidly growing body of research indicates that body-mind activities (e.g., yoga) and low intensity activities (e.g., walking) have positive effects on various mental health disorders [ 58 – 60 ]. Correspondingly, the results presented here suggest that sedentary and light physical activities could be particularly beneficial for certain disorders, such as anorexia and schizophrenia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the causal relationships of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with mental health and substance use disorders: a Mendelian randomisation study

et al. 2023

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Observational studies suggest that physical activity can reduce the risk of mental health and substance use disorders. However, it is unclear whether this relationship is causal or explained by confounding bias (e.g., common underlying causes or reverse causality). We investigated the bidirectional causal relationship of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) with ten mental health and substance use disorders, applying two-sample Mendelian Randomisation (MR). Genetic instruments for the exposures and outcomes were derived from the largest available, non-overlapping genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Summary-level data for objectively assessed PA (accelerometer-based average activity, moderate activity, and walking) and SB and self-reported moderate-to-vigorous PA were obtained from the UK Biobank. Data for mental health/substance use disorders were obtained from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and the GWAS and Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine Use. MR estimates were combined using inverse variance weighted meta-analysis (IVW). Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the results. Accelerometer-based average PA was associated with a lower risk of depression (b = −0.043, 95% CI: −0.071 to −0.016, effect size[OR] = 0.957) and cigarette smoking (b = −0.026; 95% CI: −0.035 to −0.017, effect size[β] = −0.022). Accelerometer-based SB decreased the risk of anorexia (b = −0.341, 95% CI: −0.530 to −0.152, effect size[OR] = 0.711) and schizophrenia (b = −0.230; 95% CI: −0.285 to −0.175, effect size[OR] = 0.795). However, we found evidence of reverse causality in the relationship between SB and schizophrenia. Further, PTSD, bipolar disorder, anorexia, and ADHD were all associated with increased PA. This study provides evidence consistent with a causal protective effect of objectively assessed but not self-reported PA on reduced depression and cigarette smoking. Objectively assessed SB had a protective relationship with anorexia. Enhancing PA may be an effective intervention strategy to reduce depressive symptoms and addictive behaviours, while promoting sedentary or light physical activities may help to reduce the risk of anorexia in at-risk individuals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the causal relationships of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with mental health and substance use disorders: a Mendelian randomisation study

et al. 2023

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“…Links from nature to mental health, not specifically related to tourism, have now been analysed and reviewed in considerable detail [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. The role of tourism has been identified, but, as yet, rarely quantified [50].…”

Section: Health and Human Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourism and Environment: Ecology, Management, Economics, Climate, Health, and Politics

Buckley,

Underdahl

2023

Sustainability

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We review research on tourism and the environment using a temporal framework, distinct from previous reviews. We identify six main phases, all still active, but with different histories. Initially, tourism was treated as a low-impact component of transport and urban accommodation, and the focus was on recreation, ecology and visitor management in parks. Interest then turned to environmental management and corporate social responsibility: wastes, resources, and ecolabels. The third phase analysed positive economic contributions to conservation by a small number of tourism enterprises, principally through private reserves and park funding. The fourth focussed on climate change and carbon offsets, and the fifth on mental health and human capital. The sixth and newest phase is political. Tourism developers, industry associations, and lobbyists have stepped up their longstanding efforts to gain control of parks and protected areas, in order to profit from preferential access to public resources. These efforts now include international instruments as well as policies, practices, and legislation in individual countries. Tourism has become a catspaw for a new form of land grab by private wealth portfolios for high-value nature property. We draw attention to tourism development land grabs in public protected areas as a key priority for urgent research.

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“…There is a wealth of literature regarding the beneficial effects of exposure to nature on wellbeing, such as increased positive and decreased negative affect across the lifespan (Bowler et al, 2010;McMahan and Estes, 2015;Norwood et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2020). Such increases in positive affect (Berman et al, 2012) and decreases in negative affect (Watkins-Martin et al, 2022) even extend to those diagnosed with clinical depression. Further, contact with natural environments does not have to be long, with durations as little as 5 min resulting in improvements in positive and negative affect (Neill et al, 2019); however, "active lingering" in the environment can provide greater benefits (Li et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walking in nature may improve affect but not cognition

Trammell,

Harriger,

Krumrei-Mancuso

2024

Front. Psychol.

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Beneficial effects of natural environments on affect have been consistently reported, but effects on cognition have been less consistent. We examined affect and cognitive performance in the domains of attention, working memory, executive function, and recall and recognition memory in a sample of 188 undergraduate participants who completed a walk in one of three environments: an outdoor nature environment, an outdoor urban environment, or an indoor (treadmill) environment. Supporting the hypotheses, the outdoor nature environment resulted in the greatest increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect from pre-to post-walk. However, there were no effects of location on any cognitive measure. These results suggest that cognitive effects do not always occur in tandem with affective benefits. Possible explanations, including prior frequent exposure to nature in our participants and extremity of the natural environment, are discussed.

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The effects of walking in nature on negative and positive affect in adult psychiatric outpatients with major depressive disorder: A randomized-controlled study

Cited by 10 publications

References 41 publications

Testing the causal relationships of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with mental health and substance use disorders: a Mendelian randomisation study

Testing the causal relationships of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with mental health and substance use disorders: a Mendelian randomisation study

Tourism and Environment: Ecology, Management, Economics, Climate, Health, and Politics

Walking in nature may improve affect but not cognition

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