Mental Health

Nature experience has substantial benefits for restoring mental health, but the accessibility of nature has hindered the scalability of this strategy. The Portable Digital Nature Experience (PDNE) could offer an alternative solution. A total of 118 effect sizes from 36 randomized controlled trials were included, involving 2925 participants across 17 countries and regions. Results from the three-level meta-analysis indicate that PDNE significantly reduced three common mental health issues, including stress (g = −0.51; 95% CI [−0.73, −0.28]; p < .001), anxiety (g = −0.67; 95% CI [−1.01, −0.33]; p < .001), and depression (g = −0.26; 95% CI [−0.51, −0.01]; p = .044). In terms of reducing stress, the green space intervention was significantly more effective than the mixed landscape intervention (p = .008). Regarding anxiety, the auditory condition yielded significantly better results than the multisensory (p = .021) and visual (p = .011) conditions. Similarly, for depression, the auditory condition was significantly more effective than the visual condition (p = .016), and the Active Control Group demonstrated superior outcomes compared to the Treatment As Usual Control Group (p = .028). No significant differences were found in sample characteristics (sex composition, age distribution, clinical status), intervention content (duration of intervention), or study characteristics (research context, measurement indicator, and measurement time). This study demonstrates that PDNE can be effective in alleviating mental health problems and has the potential for large-scale replication. In scenarios where nature experience is constrained, it is hoped that the benefits of PDNE will advance social equity.

This study investigates the relationship between perceived and actual pollution and mental health, emphasizing how exposure illusion and exposure neglect may contribute to mental health. The research draws on a representative sample of 16,607 Chinese residents, examining the associations between perceived and actual pollution and mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and stress. The study utilizes a generalized linear mixed model, incorporating various pollution conditions, gender, age, education, and urbanization as fixed effects, while the provinces are treated as random effects. The results indicate that even in the absence of high levels of actual pollution, the mere perception of pollution is associated with increased levels of depression (β = 0.51, OR = 1.66, p<.001), anxiety (β = 0.43, OR = 1.54, p<.001), and stress (β=0.30, OR = 1.35, p<.001) among residents. When residents’ perception of pollution aligns with actual pollution levels, the negative effects on mental health appear to be more pronounced (depression: β = 0.90, OR = 2.46, p<.001; anxiety: β = 0.96, OR = 2.60, p<.001; stress: β = 0.56, OR = 1.76, p<.001). These findings demonstrate that perceived pollution may play a primary role in its association with mental health compared to actual pollution. It is important to emphasize that this study is cross-sectional, and thus it cannot establish causal conclusions regarding perceived pollution leading to mental health issues. Furthermore, only air pollution was used as an indicator of actual pollution, which may limit the generalizability of our findings.