Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study

Francesco Meneguzzo, Lorenzo Albanese, Michele Antonelli, Rita Baraldi, Francesco Riccardo Becheri, Francesco Centritto, Davide Donelli, Franco Finelli, Fabio Firenzuoli, Giovanni Margheritini, Valentina Maggini, Sara Nardini, Marta Regina, Federica Zabini and Luisa Neri
Additional contact information
Francesco Meneguzzo: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, 10 Via Madonna del Piano, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Lorenzo Albanese: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, 10 Via Madonna del Piano, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Michele Antonelli: Local Public Health Authority, AUSL- IRCCS, I-42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy
Rita Baraldi: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, 101 Via Gobetti, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
Francesco Riccardo Becheri: Pian dei Termini Forest Therapy Station, 2311 Via Pratorsi, I-51028 San Marcello Piteglio, Italy
Francesco Centritto: “Cesare Alfieri” Political Science School, University of Florence, 60 Via Vittorio Locchi, I-50141 Firenze, Italy
Davide Donelli: Local Public Health Authority, AUSL- IRCCS, I-42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy
Franco Finelli: Italian Alpine Club, 19 Via E. Petrella, I-20124 Milano, Italy
Fabio Firenzuoli: CERFIT, Careggi University Hospital, I-50134 Florence, Italy
Giovanni Margheritini: Italian Alpine Club, 19 Via E. Petrella, I-20124 Milano, Italy
Valentina Maggini: CERFIT, Careggi University Hospital, I-50134 Florence, Italy
Sara Nardini: A.M.I.S.I. Italian Medical Association for the Study of Hypnosis, 28 Via Paisiello, I-20131 Milano, Italy
Marta Regina: Mindfulness Association UK, Edinburgh EH9 1AR, UK
Federica Zabini: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, 10 Via Madonna del Piano, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Luisa Neri: Institute of Bioeconomy, National Research Council, 101 Via Gobetti, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-21

Abstract: Immersion in forest environments was shown to produce beneficial effects to human health, in particular psychophysical relaxation, leading to its growing recognition as a form of integrative medicine. However, limited evidence exists about the statistical significance of the effects and their association with external and environmental variables and personal characteristics. This experimental study aimed to substantiate the very concept of forest therapy by means of the analysis of the significance of its effects on the mood states of anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Seven forest therapy sessions were performed in remote areas and a control one in an urban park, with participants allowed to attend only one session, resulting in 162 psychological self-assessment questionnaires administered before and after each session. Meteorological comfort, the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the forest atmosphere and environmental coherence were identified as likely important external and environmental variables. Under certain conditions, forest therapy sessions performed in remote sites were shown to outperform the control session, at least for anxiety, anger and confusion. A quantitative analysis of the association of the outcomes with personal sociodemographic characteristics revealed that only sporting habits and age were significantly associated with the outcomes for certain psychological domains.

Keywords: anger; anxiety; confusion; depression; forest therapy; mental health; volatile organic compounds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9509/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9509/ (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:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9509-:d:632300

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

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