The Contribution of Environmental Science to Mental Health Research: A Scoping Review

Michaela Roberts, Kathryn Colley, Margaret Currie, Antonia Eastwood, Kuang-Heng Li, Lisa M. Avery, Lindsay C. Beevers, Isobel Braithwaite, Martin Dallimer, Zoe G. Davies, Helen L. Fisher, Christopher J. Gidlow, Anjum Memon, Ian S. Mudway, Larissa A. Naylor, Stefan Reis, Pete Smith, Stephen A. Stansfeld, Stephanie Wilkie and Katherine N. Irvine ()
Additional contact information
Michaela Roberts: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Kathryn Colley: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Margaret Currie: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Antonia Eastwood: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Kuang-Heng Li: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Lisa M. Avery: Environmental and Biochemical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK
Lindsay C. Beevers: Institute of Infrastructure and Environment, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Isobel Braithwaite: UCL Institute of Health Informatics, 222 Euston Road, London NW1 2DA, UK
Martin Dallimer: Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Zoe G. Davies: Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK
Helen L. Fisher: King’s College London, Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Christopher J. Gidlow: Centre for Health and Development (CHAD), Staffordshire University, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 2DF, UK
Anjum Memon: Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PH, UK
Ian S. Mudway: MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, White City Campus, London W12 0BZ, UK
Larissa A. Naylor: School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, East Quadrangle, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Stefan Reis: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, UK
Pete Smith: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, 23 St Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, UK
Stephen A. Stansfeld: Centre for Psychiatry, Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK
Stephanie Wilkie: School of Psychology, Murray Library, City Campus, University of Sunderland, Sunderland SR1 3SD, UK
Katherine N. Irvine: Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, Scotland AB15 8QH, UK

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 7, 1-36

Abstract: Mental health is influenced by multiple complex and interacting genetic, psychological, social, and environmental factors. As such, developing state-of-the-art mental health knowledge requires collaboration across academic disciplines, including environmental science. To assess the current contribution of environmental science to this field, a scoping review of the literature on environmental influences on mental health (including conditions of cognitive development and decline) was conducted. The review protocol was developed in consultation with experts working across mental health and environmental science. The scoping review included 202 English-language papers, published between 2010 and 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), on environmental themes that had not already been the subject of recent systematic reviews; 26 reviews on climate change, flooding, air pollution, and urban green space were additionally considered. Studies largely focused on populations in the USA, China, or Europe and involved limited environmental science input. Environmental science research methods are primarily focused on quantitative approaches utilising secondary datasets or field data. Mental health measurement was dominated by the use of self-report psychometric scales. Measures of environmental states or exposures were often lacking in specificity (e.g., limited to the presence or absence of an environmental state). Based on the scoping review findings and our synthesis of the recent reviews, a research agenda for environmental science’s future contribution to mental health scholarship is set out. This includes recommendations to expand the geographical scope and broaden the representation of different environmental science areas, improve measurement of environmental exposure, prioritise experimental and longitudinal research designs, and giving greater consideration to variation between and within communities and the mediating pathways by which environment influences mental health. There is also considerable opportunity to increase interdisciplinarity within the field via the integration of conceptual models, the inclusion of mixed methods and qualitative approaches, as well as further consideration of the socio-political context and the environmental states that can help support good mental health. The findings were used to propose a conceptual model to parse contributions and connections between environmental science and mental health to inform future studies.

Keywords: mental wellbeing; cognitive development; cognitive decline; environmental epidemiology; physical environment; chemical environment; biological environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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