Urban Parks Could Make You Happier

Summary: Spending 20 minutes in an urban park helps to increase emotional well being, regardless of whether or not a person is participating in exercise, a new study reports.

Source: UAB.

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Occupational Therapy have published new findings that suggest spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make someone happier regardless of whether they are engaging in exercise or not during the visit.

According to the study, published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, urban parks have been recognized as key neighborhood places that provide residents with opportunities to experience nature and engage in various activities. Through contact with the natural environment and engagement in health-promoting and/or social and recreational activities in parks, users experience physical and mental health benefits such as stress reduction and recovery from mental fatigue.

Principle investigator Hon K. Yuen, Ph.D., OTR/L, professor in the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, said the original intent of the project was to validate previous research findings on the impact of park visit on emotional well-being, and evaluate the contribution of choosing to participate in physical activity in the park in relation to emotional well-being after the park visit.

“Overall, we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being after the park visit,” said Yuen. “However, we did not find levels of physical activity are related to improved emotional well-being. Instead, we found time spent in the park is related to improved emotional well-being.”

Co-author and chair of the department Gavin R. Jenkins, Ph.D., OTR/L, said this means that potentially all people can benefit from time in a park. If you cannot be physically active due to aging, a disability or any other limitations, the study implies a person can still gain health benefits just from a visit to a local park.

Participants of the study were adult visitors to one of the three urban parks — Overton, Jemison and Cahaba River Walk Parks — in Mountain Brook, Alabama. Data were collected from 98 adult park visitors; four visitors reported that they participated in this study twice. Data from the second participation were excluded, resulting in 94 unique participants participating in the study. These parks were selected for the study because they were the three main public parks in Mountain Brook and had a relatively high volume of visitors daily.

walking in a park
UAB researchers found spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make someone happier — whether they are engaging in exercise or not during the visit. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to UAB.

Yuen said several limitations of the study included the lack of objective data to measure emotional health and confining the study to just three urban parks in a six-month data collection period.

Although a small study, Jenkins said the significance of these findings helps reinforce the need for more urban parks and the conservation of those that already exist.

“There is increasing pressure on green space within urban settings,” said Jenkins. “Planners and developers look to replace green space with residential and commercial property. The challenge facing cities is that there is an increasing evidence about the value of city parks but we continue to see the demise of theses spaces.”

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Adam Pope – UAB
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to UAB.
Original Research: Abstract for “Factors associated with changes in subjective well-being immediately after urban park visit” by Hon K. Yuen & Gavin R. Jenkinsin International Journal of Environmental Health Research. Published February 13 2019.
doi:10.1080/09603123.2019.1577368

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]UAB “Urban Parks Could Make You Happier.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 25 February 2019.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/happiness-urban-parks-10811/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]UAB (2019, February 25). Urban Parks Could Make You Happier. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved February 25, 2019 from https://neurosciencenews.com/happiness-urban-parks-10811/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]UAB “Urban Parks Could Make You Happier.” https://neurosciencenews.com/happiness-urban-parks-10811/ (accessed February 25, 2019).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Factors associated with changes in subjective well-being immediately after urban park visit

This study aimed to explore the amenable factors contributing to the improvement in subjective well-being (SWB) immediately after a short-term visit to an urban park in an uncontrolled condition. Ninety-four park visitors from three urban parks completed a short questionnaire evaluating SWB (with two components: affect and life satisfaction) immediately before and after their park visit. In addition, their level of physical activity was tracked by wearing an accelerometer during the park visit. Results indicated a significant improvement in SWB, affect, and life satisfaction scores of park visitor participants from before and after their visit. Duration of park visit was bivariately associated with SWB scores, and independently associated with the improvement in life satisfaction scores, controlling for parks and age, after the visit; a 20.5-min park visit predicted the highest overall accuracy (64%) improvement in life satisfaction. It is recommended that design of the park space should attract visitors to stay for at least 20 min in the park.

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