Effects of Forest Therapy on Depressive Symptoms among Adults: A Systematic Review

Insook Lee, Heeseung Choi, Kyung-Sook Bang, Sungjae Kim, MinKyung Song and Buhyun Lee
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Insook Lee: Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Heeseung Choi: Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Kyung-Sook Bang: Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Sungjae Kim: Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
MinKyung Song: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Buhyun Lee: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: This study systematically reviewed forest therapy programs designed to decrease the level of depression among adults and assessed the methodological rigor and scientific evidence quality of existing research studies to guide future studies. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The authors independently screened full-text articles from various databases using the following criteria: (1) intervention studies assessing the effects of forest therapy on depressive symptoms in adults aged 18 years and older; (2) studies including at least one control group or condition; (3) peer-reviewed studies; and (4) been published either in English or Korean before July 2016. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network measurement tool was used to assess the risk of bias in each trial. In the final sample, 28 articles (English: 13, Korean: 15) were included in the systematic review. We concluded that forest therapy is an emerging and effective intervention for decreasing adults’ depression levels. However, the included studies lacked methodological rigor. Future studies assessing the long-term effect of forest therapy on depression using rigorous study designs are needed.

Keywords: systematic review; forest therapy; depression; adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

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