Connecting to Nature
Category: Connecting to Nature; Therapeutic Design; Green Social Prescribing
Title: Community gardens as psychosocial interventions for refugees and migrants: a narrative review (2023)
Link: Community gardens as psychosocial interventions for refugees and migrants: a narrative review – ScienceOpen
Summary: A narrative review that explored the psychosocial outcomes of community gardens for refugees and migrants, analysing 17 peer-reviewed and 4 grey literature articles. The study identified four key themes: improved continuity and adaptation, enhanced social connectedness, overall wellbeing, and increased sense of meaning and self-worth. These findings suggest that community gardens can serve as valuable psychosocial interventions by fostering connections to the land and others, creating a sense of belonging in host countries, and linking individuals to their agricultural heritage. The review highlights the importance of integrating community gardening programs into resettlement services to support recovery and adaptation.
Category: Connecting to Nature; Mental Health; Therapeutic Design
Title: Associations of nature contact with emotional ill-being and well-being:
the role of emotion regulation (2024)
Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02699931.2024.2316199#abstract
Summary: This paper explores the relationship between nature contact, emotion regulation strategies, and emotional well-being and ill-being. Using cross-sectional data, the study examines how different types of emotion regulation, such as rumination, reappraisal, and distraction, mediate the effects of nature exposure on emotional outcomes. The findings reveal that more frequent nature contact is associated with greater emotional well-being and reduced emotional ill-being, particularly through increased use of adaptive strategies like reappraisal and decreased use of maladaptive ones like rumination. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, causal relationships cannot be confirmed, and further research is recommended to explore these pathways in more depth.
Category: Connecting to Nature; Mental Health; Therapeutic Design
Title: The role of nature in emotion regulation processes: An evidence-based
rapid review (2024) Vitale, V., & Bonaiuto, M.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424000987
Summary: A rapid review, investigating how exposure to nature impacts emotional regulation. Drawing on various frameworks, such as stress reduction and biopsychosocial models, the study emphasises how natural environments help mitigate negative emotions, enhance positive affect, and activate adaptive emotional regulation strategies. Despite substantial evidence of nature’s broader mental health benefits, the paper highlights that the specific pathways linking nature and emotional regulation remain underexplored and calls for more focused research on these mechanisms.
Category: Connecting to Nature; Mental Health
Title: “Contact with Nature for Emotion Regulation: The Roles of Nature
Connectedness and Beauty Engagement in Urban Young Adults,” (2023), Gu,
Zheng, and Tse
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-48756-4
Summary: An empirical study investigating how nature contact influences emotional regulation, specifically focusing on two mediating factors: nature connectedness (the psychological sense of being related to nature) and beauty engagement (the ability to perceive and appreciate beauty in nature). The study collects data from urban young adults, exploring the psychological mechanisms through which exposure to natural environments can help regulate emotions. By integrating these two factors, the study
sheds light on how subjective experiences of nature’s beauty and a deeper sense of connection with nature contribute to emotional well-being, especially in urban settings where access to nature might be limited. The findings highlight the potential of nature-based interventions for improving emotional regulation, suggesting that enhancing individuals’ connection to nature and their ability to engage with its beauty could be important strategies for supporting mental health.
Category: Veterans; Mental Health; Connecting to Nature
Title: Long-Term Group Nature-Assisted Therapy for Veterans Diagnosed with
Chronic PTSD (2023)
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01609513.2023.2173358
Summary: Case study of combining nature therapy with group therapy in a long term adventure therapy programme for veterans with Chronic PTSD. Qualitative data was collected from 4 focus groups with 10 participants. Thematic analysis found 3 main themes: Reaching out to the world: Being in the world; Belonging: being part of a group; and Nature as a curative factor. It was found that this approach enhanced participants ability to cope with PTSD avoidance symptoms, and that nature was seen as a pivotal factor. Authors conclude that nature assisted therapy is a promising supplementary intervention, particularly for those who have failed to gain sufficient improvement through other therapies.