Sunshine Matters a Lot to Mental Health: Temperature, Pollution and Rain Not So Much

Summary: When it comes to your mental and emotional health, the amount of time between sunrise and sunset is the weather variable that matters most, a new study reports.

Source: Brigham Young University.

BYU psychologist, physicist and statistician collaborate on unique study.

Sunshine matters. A lot. The idea isn’t exactly new, but according to a recent BYU study, when it comes to your mental and emotional health, the amount of time between sunrise and sunset is the weather variable that matters most.

Your day might be filled with irritatingly hot temperatures, thick air pollution and maybe even pockets of rainclouds, but that won’t necessarily get you down. If you’re able to soak up enough sun, your level of emotional distress should remain stable. Take away sun time, though, and your distress can spike. This applies to the clinical population at large, not just those diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

“That’s one of the surprising pieces of our research,” said Mark Beecher, clinical professor and licensed psychologist in BYU Counseling and Psychological Services. “On a rainy day, or a more polluted day, people assume that they’d have more distress. But we didn’t see that. We looked at solar irradiance, or the amount of sunlight that actually hits the ground. We tried to take into account cloudy days, rainy days, pollution . . . but they washed out. The one thing that was really significant was the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.”Therapists should be aware that winter months will be a time of high demand for their services. With fewer sun time hours, clients will be particularly vulnerable to emotional distress. Preventative measures should be implemented on a case-by-case basis.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, started with a casual conversation that piqued Beecher’s professional curiosity.

“Mark and I have been friends and neighbors for years, and we often take the bus together,” said Lawrence Rees, a physics professor at BYU. “And of course you often talk about mundane things, like how are classes going? How has the semester been? How ’bout this weather? So one day it was kind of stormy, and I asked Mark if he sees more clients on these days. He said he’s not sure, it’s kind of an open question. It’s hard to get accurate data.”

A lightbulb went off in Rees’ head. As a physics professor, Rees had access to weather data in the Provo area. As a psychologist, Beecher had access to emotional health data for clients living in Provo.

“We realized that we had access to a nice set of data that not a lot of people have access to,” Beecher said. “So Rees said, ‘Well, I’ve got weather data,’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve got clinical data. Let’s combine the pair!’ Wonder Twin powers activate, you know?”

From left to right: Dennis Egget, Lawrence Rees and Mark Beecher. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Nate Edwards/BYU.
From left to right: Dennis Egget, Lawrence Rees and Mark Beecher. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Nate Edwards/BYU.

The duo then brought in BYU statistics professor Dennis Eggett, who developed the plan for analyzing the data and performed all of the statistical analyses on the project.

Several studies have attempted to look at the weather’s effect on mood with mixed results. Beecher cited four reasons why this study is an improvement on previous research:

  • The study analyzed several meteorological variables such as wind chill, rainfall, solar irradiance, wind speed, temperature and more.
  • The weather data could be analyzed down to the minute in the exact area where the clients lived.
  • The study focused on a clinical population instead of a general population.
  • The study used a mental health treatment outcome measure to examine several aspects of psychological distress, rather than relying on suicide attempts or online diaries.
  • The weather data came from BYU’s Physics and Astronomy Weather Station, and the pollution data came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mental and emotional health data came from BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services Center.

The three BYU professors were just the beginning of the collaboration on this research. There are 10 other authors listed on the study, including Davey Erekson, Jennie Bingham, Jared Klundt, Russell Bailey, Clark Ripplinger, Jessica Kirchhoefer, Robert Gibson, Derek Griner, Jonathan Cox and RD Boardman. Both Ripplinger and Kirchhoefer are currently doctoral students in BYU’s counseling psychology program.

About this psychology research article

Funding: Funding provided by Leverhulme Trust.

Source: Jon McBride – Brigham Young University
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Nate Edwards/BYU.
Original Research: Abstract for “Sunshine on my shoulders: Weather, pollution, and emotional distress” by Mark E. Beecher, Dennis Eggett, Davey Erekson, Lawrence B. Rees, Jennie Bingham, Jared Klundt, Russell J. Bailey, Clark Ripplinger, Jessica Kirchhoefer, Robert Gibson, Derek Griner, Jonathan C. Cox, and R.D. Boardman in Journal of Affective Disorders. Published online November 2016 doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.021

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Brigham Young University. “Sunshine Matters a Lot to Mental Health: Temperature, Pollution and Rain Not So Much.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 3 November 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/psychology-sunshine-health-5428/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Brigham Young University. (2016, November 3). Sunshine Matters a Lot to Mental Health: Temperature, Pollution and Rain Not So Much. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved November 3, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/psychology-sunshine-health-5428/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Brigham Young University. “Sunshine Matters a Lot to Mental Health: Temperature, Pollution and Rain Not So Much.” https://neurosciencenews.com/psychology-sunshine-health-5428/ (accessed November 3, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Sunshine on my shoulders: Weather, pollution, and emotional distress

Background
Researchers have examined the relationship between mental health and weather/pollution with mixed results. The current study aimed to examine a range of weather and atmospheric phenomena and their association with time-bound mental health data.

Methods
Nineteen different weather/pollution variables were examined in connection with an archive of self-reported mental health data for university students participating in mental health treatment (n=16,452) using the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ-45). Statistical approach involved randomly selecting 500 subjects from the sample 1000 different times and testing each variable of interest using mixed models analyses.

Results
Seasonal changes in sun time were found to best account for relationships between weather variables and variability in mental health distress. Increased mental health distress was found during periods of reduced sun time hours. A separate analysis examining subjects’ endorsement of a suicidality item, though not statistically significant, demonstrated a similar pattern. Initial results showed a relationship between pollution and changes in mental health distress; however, this was mediated by sun time.

Limitations

This study examined a relatively homogenous, predominantly European American, and religious sample of college counseling clients from an area that is subject to inversions and is at a high altitude and a latitude where sun time vacillates significantly more than locations closer to the equator.

Conclusions

Seasonal increases in sun time were associated with decreased mental health distress. This suggests the need for institutions and public health entities to plan for intervention and prevention resources and strategies during periods of reduced sun time.

“Sunshine on my shoulders: Weather, pollution, and emotional distress” by Mark E. Beecher, Dennis Eggett, Davey Erekson, Lawrence B. Rees, Jennie Bingham, Jared Klundt, Russell J. Bailey, Clark Ripplinger, Jessica Kirchhoefer, Robert Gibson, Derek Griner, Jonathan C. Cox, and R.D. Boardman in Journal of Affective Disorders. Published online November 2016 doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.021

Feel free to share this Neuroscience News.
Join our Newsletter
I agree to have my personal information transferred to AWeber for Neuroscience Newsletter ( more information )
Sign up to receive our recent neuroscience headlines and summaries sent to your email once a day, totally free.
We hate spam and only use your email to contact you about newsletters. You can cancel your subscription any time.