Green Space for Mental Health in the COVID-19 Era: A Pathway Analysis in Residential Green Space Users

Hansen Li, Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Angel M. Dzhambov, Guodong Zhang and Yang Cao
Additional contact information
Hansen Li: Institute of Sports Science, College of Physical Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400175, China
Matthew H. E. M. Browning: Department of Park, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Angel M. Dzhambov: Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Plovdiv, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Guodong Zhang: Institute of Sports Science, College of Physical Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400175, China
Yang Cao: Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Residential green space is among the most accessible types of urban green spaces and may help maintain mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is insufficiently understood how residents use residential green space for exercise during the epidemic. The pathways between residential green space and mental health also merit further exploration. Therefore, we conducted an online study among Chinese residents in December 2021 to capture data on engagement with urban green space for green exercise, the frequency of green exercise, perceived pollution in green space, perceptions of residential green space, social cohesion, depression, and anxiety. Among the 1208 respondents who engaged in green exercise last month, 967 (80%) reported that green exercise primarily occurred in residential neighborhoods. The rest (20%) reported that green exercise occurred in more distant urban green spaces. The most common reasons that respondents sought green exercise in urban green spaces were better air and environmental qualities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was then employed to explore the pathways between the perceived greenness of residential neighborhoods and mental health among respondents who used residential green space for exercise. The final model suggested that residential green space was negatively associated with anxiety (β = −0.30, p = 0.001) and depression (β = −0.33, p < 0.001), mainly through indirect pathways. Perceived pollution and social cohesion were the two mediators that contributed to most of the indirect effects. Perceived pollution was also indirectly associated with green exercise through less social cohesion (β = −0.04, p = 0.010). These findings suggest a potential framework to understand the mental health benefits of residential green space and its accompanying pathways during the COVID-19 era.

Keywords: neighborhood; community; physical activity; mental health; urban greening (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1128/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1128/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1128-:d:869640

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().