Residential Surrounding Greenspace and Mental Health in Three Spanish Areas

Maria Torres Toda, Asier Anabitarte Riol, Marta Cirach, Marisa Estarlich, Ana Fernández-Somoano, Llúcia González-Safont, Mònica Guxens, Jordi Julvez, Isolina Riaño-Galán, Jordi Sunyer and Payam Dadvand
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Maria Torres Toda: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Asier Anabitarte Riol: Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development Group, 20014 San Sebastian, Spain
Marta Cirach: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Marisa Estarlich: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Ana Fernández-Somoano: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Llúcia González-Safont: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Mònica Guxens: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Jordi Julvez: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Isolina Riaño-Galán: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Jordi Sunyer: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Payam Dadvand: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Exposure to greenspace has been related to improved mental health, but the available evidence is limited and findings are heterogeneous across different areas. We aimed to evaluate the associations between residential exposure to greenspace and specific psychopathological and psychosomatic symptoms related to mental health among mothers from a Spanish birth cohort. Our study was based on data from 1171 women participating in two follow-ups of a population-based cohort in Valencia, Sabadell, and Gipuzkoa (2004–2012). For each participant, residential surrounding greenspace was estimated as the average of the satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) across different buffers around the residential address at the time of delivery and at the 4-year follow-up. The Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R) was applied to characterize mental health at the 4-year follow-up. We developed mixed-effects logistic regression models controlled for relevant covariates to evaluate the associations. Higher residential surrounding greenspace was associated with a lower risk of somatization and anxiety symptoms. For General Severity Index (GSI), obsessive–compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism symptoms, we generally observed protective associations, but none attained statistical significance. Findings from this study suggested a potential positive impactof greenspace on mental health.

Keywords: nature; mental illness; psychiatric disorder; psychosomatic symptoms; parks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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