Nature and Mood

Bardhan and teammates report that they “conducted one of the first longer-term investigations of daily nature exposure and mood with a mobile app as part of the NatureDose™ Student Study (NDSS). The NatureDose™ app uses GPS and a phone’s sensors to evaluate whether a person is inside or outside and checks levels of nature surrounding the person with the NatureScore™ measure. This measure is based on more than 30 remotely sensed datasets, geo-located health records, and machine learning models. . . . we observed a positive association between nature exposure and positive mood . . .  The study also reinforces previous findings on the associations between nature exposure and positive mood states. Greening university campuses and surrounding locations where college students live and spend leisure time could support college students’ mental health.”

Mondira Bardhan, Kuiran Zhang, Matthew Browning, Jiaying Dong, Tong Liu, Christopher Bailey, Olivia McAnirlin, Jared Hanley, Christopher Minson, Robert Mutel, Shyam Ranganathan, and Aaron Reuben.  2023. “Time in Nature Is Associated with Higher Levels of Positive Mood:  Evidence from the 2023 NatureDose ™ Student Survey.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 90, 102083, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102083