Rationale, Feasibility, and Acceptability of the Meeting in Nature Together (MINT) Program: A Novel Nature-Based Social Intervention for Loneliness Reduction with Teen Parents and Their Peers

Ashby Lavelle Sachs, Eva Coringrato, Nadav Sprague, Angela Turbyfill, Sarah Tillema and Jill Litt ()
Additional contact information
Ashby Lavelle Sachs: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Eva Coringrato: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Nadav Sprague: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Angela Turbyfill: Young Mother’s Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Sarah Tillema: Young Mother’s Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Jill Litt: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: Recently, there has been an increase in feelings of loneliness and mental health conditions among adolescents. Within this population, parenting teens are at an increased risk for these conditions. Outdoor experiences are shown to be an antidote to loneliness and a way to promote social connectedness by amplifying the processes for supporting social relationships. In 2020–2021, we piloted the 8-week Meeting in Nature Together program (MINT) at a charter school for pregnant and parenting teenagers in Colorado, USA. MINT aimed to promote relatedness and nature connection for students ages 14 to 19. MINT included online and in-person group meetings with educational content, creative activities, discussion, park excursions, mindfulness activities, journaling, and nature photography. Here, we ask, can a school-level nature-based social intervention reduce loneliness among pregnant and parenting teens by promoting and sustaining social connections? How acceptable is MINT to participants? Methods included audiovisual recording transcriptions, surveys, and observation field notes. Results suggest that MINT fostered social connections through a tailored nature-based intervention delivered to a typically isolated community in culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate ways. MINT proved feasible and effective as participants reported high levels of satisfaction and interest in continuing to engage in activities promoted in MINT.

Keywords: loneliness; adolescent parent; nature-based; social prescription; community based participatory research; stress; green space; mindfulness; social connection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11059/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11059/ (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:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11059-:d:906241

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 ().