green exercise: the psychological effects of exercising in nature

Survey Design II

James Neill
Centre for Applied
Psychology
University of Canberra

Green Exercise:The psychological effects of exercising in nature

Outdoor Recreation
Industry Council
Annual Conference
August 14-15, 2009

Web versionGreen exercise: The psychological effects of green exercise14-15 August, 2009, Outdoor Recreation Industry Council Annual Conference, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaJames T. Neill
Centre for Applied Psychology
University of CanberraPresentation home page: http://wilderdom.com/wiki/Neill_2009_Green_exercise:_The_psychological_effects_of_exercising_in_nature

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Description: Explains green exercise theory and research, and overviews a recent field-based green exercise research study at the University of Canberra.

Do not try this at home

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Overview

What is green exercise?

Effects of nature

Effects of exercise

Green exercise research

Future directions

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What is green exercise?

Physical exercise
performed in (relatively)
natural settings.

Examples of green exercise

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What about your green exercise?

What kind of green exercise do you participate in? Type of activity? For how long? Location? Intensity? Alone? Naturalness? Formal or informal?

What happens to you when you participate in green exercise.

What do you like / not like about green exercise?

How does a green experience differ (if at all) from other exercise?

How much and what type of green exercise would you ideally like to do? What would be your 'ideal' green exercise experience?

What are the barriers to you doing more green exercise?

7. When you do do green exercise, what makes this possible? (What are the enablers?)

1. What kind of green exercise do you participate in? 1. Type of activity? 2. Length of time? 3. Location? 4. Intensity? 5. Alone or with others? 6. How "green" (natural) is the exercise? 7. Is it informally or formally organised? 2. Describe the experience(s) when you participate in green exercise. 3. What do you like / not like about green exercise? 4. How do you think the experience and effects of green exercise differ (if at all) from physical exercise in non-natural environments? 5. In the ideal world, how much and what type of green exercise would like to do? or What would be your 'ideal' green exercise experience? (Could be a one off or a routine) 6. If you don't do as much green exercise as you'd like to, why not? (What are the barriers?) 7. When you do do green exercise, what makes this possible? (What are the enablers?)

Effects of exercise

15 to 30 minute plus bouts of moderate intensity aerobic exercise are associated with well-demonstrated physical and psychological health benefits (mood, anxiety, stress).

But some studies show benefits from less intense exercise.

Viewing nature: positively associated with psychological well-being

Being in nature: Being in the presence of nature

Active participation/involvement with nature

Ulrich's hospital study, posters in workplace reduced anger and stressNeighbourhood greenness related positively to mental healthOutwood bound programs found to increase self-esteem, involvement in nature doesnt always have to be active, e.g. gardening found to be psychologically beneficial

Mechanisms for exercise effects

Mastery (self-efficacy)

Distraction

Neurobiological (endorphins; norepinephrine)

Thermogenic changes

Cardiovascular conditioning

Effects of nature

Viewing nature

Being in presence of nature / nature contact

Active participation and involvement with nature

Viewing nature: positively associated with psychological well-being

Being in nature: Being in the presence of nature

Active participation/involvement with nature

Ulrich's hospital study, posters in workplace reduced anger and stressNeighbourhood greenness related positively to mental healthOutwood bound programs found to increase self-esteem, involvement in nature doesnt always have to be active, e.g. gardening found to be psychologically beneficial

Mechanisms for nature effects

Nature-deficit disorder / psycho-evolutionary theory

Restorative theories Psychophysiological stress recovery theory: Affective and aesthetic response to visual stimuli

Attention restoration theory: Recovery from directed attention fatigue

Urbanisation: Increasing numbers of people living in urban environments and the development of theory and research about the restorative effects and benefits of nature on mental and physical well-being

Effects of green exercise?

Are there synergistic benefits from participating in physical activities whilst at the same time being directly exposed to nature?

Green exercise research studies:
Jules Pretty
http://www.julespretty.com

Green exercise research:
Pretty et al.'s (2005) treadmill study

100 participants: 4 experimental groups and 1 control group

Participants run on a treadmill for 20 minutes whilst viewing a range of rural or urban scenes displayed on a screen and complete a number of questionnaires pre- and post-exercise.


PleasantUnpleasant

UrbanUrban-PleasantUrban-Unpleasant

RuralRural-PleasantRural-Unpleasnat

All groups reduced blood pressure and increased self-esteem.

Pleasant scene groups improved mood and self-esteem.

Only those who viewed rural pleasant scenes reported reductions in all 3 measures of blood pressure


10 pre-existing outdoor activity groups

Mood and self-esteem improved pre- to post-activity

No sig. effects of: Type of activity

Exercise intensity

Exercise duration

Pretty et al.'s (2007) field study

Horse riding, cycling, bushwalking etc.

Aim of the current study

Partially replicate and extend Pretty et al.'s (2007) field study

Examine the effects of green exercise on stress and anxiety

Examine the impact of: Type of exercise

Exercise duration

Exercise intensity

Greenness (naturalness)

Method

101 participants from 8 pre-existing outdoor exercise groups Road cycling, Mountain running, Orienteering, Cross-country running, Boxercise, Mountain biking, Kayaking, Bushwalking

PSS (stress) and STAI (anxiety)

Borg Scale used to measure intensity

Talk about ProcedureBy state we mean how participants felt at the actual time of exercise

The green exercise groups

In the bush capital of Australia, 2008

Stress

10-item scale about current stress level

Anxiety

20-item scale about current anxiety level

Greenness rating scale

Rating scale about
perceived environmental naturalness

Duration

Range = 10 to 220 mins, N = 84

Average =
90 mins

Ideal duration

Much About Much
shorter the same longerIdeally, would you preferred for this experience to have been?

37%
longer

4%
shorter

59%
same

Intensity: Borg scale

Intensity

Light

Hard

Very
hard

Somewhat hard

Average = 14.7

Ideal intensity

Much About Much
less the same moreIdeally, would you have preferred this experience to have been?

62%
more

4%
less

34%
same

Greeness

Average = 8.2

Ideal greeness

0% 50% 100%
Natural Natural NaturalWhat degree of naturalness would you have preferred?

93%
more

0%
less

7%
same

Anxiety & stress

Overall, moderate sig. reductions in stress and anxiety levels following green exercise
(d = .47).

Similar results for stress and anxiety

Changes in anxiety by group

No
change

Effects of predictors

Duration and intensity were not associated with changes in stress and anxiety.

Greenness was sig. negatively related to change in anxiety, i.e., the greener the perceived environment, the greater the reported anxiety reductions

a small, sig. effect

Discussion

There are positive outcomes for most groups, however the two running groups did not appear to reduce stress or anxiety perhaps due to the high intensity and somewhat competitive nature of the exercise.

yet there is merit that any reductions in stress and anxiety in the population is a good thing

Discussion

Overall, results are congruent with Pretty et al.s (2005, 2007), indicating green exercise has positive effects on psychological well-being irrespective of duration or intensity.

Perceived greenness and pleasantness helped to explain anxiety reductions.

Discussion

Participants reported that they would have preferred longer, more intense exercise experiences in more natural environments.

yet there is merit that any reductions in stress and anxiety in the population is a good thing

Recommendations

Incorporate pleasant natural exercise spaces and trails into urban areas which allow for several hours of experience and are as natural as possible.

Further test the relative contributions of exercise, nature, and synergistic effects of green exercise.

Louvs nature-deficit disorder

Future of green exercise

Green prescriptions

Green gyms

Vitamin G

Limitations

Sample: Participants were already engaged in green exercise self-selected, may not be representative of the general population.

Subjectivity of self-ratings

Future directions

Larger, more diverse sample

Indoor vs. outdoor exercise

Experimental design

Other psychological outcomes?

Psychological processes?

Long-term effects of sustained green exercise participation?

Qualitative

More information

Green exercise (Wikiversity)

References

Mackay, G. J. S., & Neill, J. T. (2009). The effect of green exercise on state anxiety and the role of exercise duration, intensity, and greenness: A quasi-experimental study. Manuscript submitted for publication.Pretty, J., Peacock, J., Sellens, M., & Griffen, M. (2005). The mental and physical health outcomes of green exercise. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 15, 319-337.Pretty, J., Peacock, J., Hine, R., Sellens, M., South, N., & Griffen, M. (2007). Green exercise in the UK countryside: Effects on health and psychological well-being, and implications for policy and planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 50, 211-231.

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green exercise: the psychological effects of exercising in nature

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