Does a natural environment enhance the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)? Examining the mental health and wellbeing, and nature connectedness benefits
E. Choe, Anna Jorgensen, D. Sheffield
October 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103886 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA six-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program produced greater mental health and wellbeing improvements when conducted in a natural outdoor environment compared with indoor or built outdoor settings. Participants in the natural environment also maintained these improvements one month after the program ended. The findings suggest that natural settings can enhance the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 99 |
| Population | Adult participants |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) |
| Duration | Six-week intervention, one-week and one-month follow-up |
| Keywords | Psychology Environmental science |
| Key finding | MBSR carried out in a natural outdoor environment yields greater mental health and wellbeing outcomes than MBSR in indoor or built environments, with sustained improvements at one-month follow-up. |
Abstract
Abstract This study investigated whether the impacts of a commonly used wellbeing intervention, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), are enhanced when combined with the benefits of exposure to a natural environment. Participants (n = 99) were randomly assigned to a weekly one-hour MBSR in one of three different environments (i.e. natural outdoor, built outdoor and indoor environments) over a six-week period. Participants’ wellbeing outcomes and nature connectedness were measured at baseline, during the intervention and at one-week and one-month follow up. The results show that the mental health and wellbeing outcomes of MBSR are greater when it carried out in a natural outdoor environment compared with indoor or built environments. Moreover, participants in the natural outdoor environment showed sustained improvements even after one month from completion of the intervention. This study supports the potential value of natural environments as settings for the enhancement of health care delivery and therapeutic interventions.