Common mental health symptoms, including mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress and general psychological distress. Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
The study involves random assignment with equal likelihood between a wait list condition and three active interventions. The active interventions all span five weeks with one instructor-led 2-hour gro
see Lymeus, 2019
Lymeus et al., 2020
2022
Toth, 2023). The weekly ReST group meetings will take place in easily accessible and non-challenging, city adjacent natural settings.
The Green Prescription intervention builds on an established nat
Sponsors
Uppsala University
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Enrolled in university courses for at least 75% of full time during the study period 2. 18-40 years old 3. Motivated to participate in a health intervention 4. Able to plan for participating in accordance with the given schedule
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Current severe mental health symptoms, suicidal ideation or self-harm 2. Current or previous psychotic or bipolar symptoms 3. Other health issues that could interfere with participation (e.g., moderate to severe allergies that can be triggered in nature visits) 4. Recent (<1 months) initiation or adjustment of regular medication that is expected impact psychological health 5. Previous participation in a nature- or mindfulness-based health intervention (minor unstructured engagement with nature activities, meditation, yoga, etc. are acceptable)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Psychological distress is measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; also see Alfonsson et al., 2017) at baseline, 5 weeks (directly after the intervention), 10 weeks (1-month follow-up) and 26 weeks (6-month follow-up). | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Each of the following outcomes will be measured at baseline, five weeks (directly after the intervention), 10 weeks (1-month follow-up) and 26 weeks (6-month follow-up): 1. Health-related quality of life measured using the Short Form Health Survey, 12-item (Jenkinson et al., 1997), 2. Psychological resilience measured using the State/Trait Assessment of Resilience (Lock et al, 2020) rating scale, 3. General cognitive functioning measured using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (Broadbent et al., 1982), 4. Trait mindfulness measured using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (Bear et al, 2006), 5. Loneliness measured using the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (Lee et al., 2001), 6. Frequency and awareness of nature contact measured using the Intentional Nature Exposure Scales (Wood at al, 2019), 7. Trait nature connection measured using the Nature Connection Index, trait version (Richardson et al, 2019), 8. Concern for environmental threats measured using the Environmental Concerns Scale (Schultz et al., 2001), 9. Pro-environmental behavior measured using the Recurring Pro-environmental Behavior Scale (Brick, Sherman & Kim, 2017) and the pro-environmental behavior scale from the People & Nature Survey (2023), 10. Alignment of behavior with personal values measured using the Engaged Living Scale (Trompetter et al., 2013), 11. Healthcare service use measured using a bespoke set of questions covering the frequency of different healthcare visits, dose and frequency of any antidepressant or anxiolytic medication, number of sick days, and resources needed to access healthcare. 12. Before and directly after the interventions, we will also measure the acceptability of the interventions using prospective and retrospective versions, respectively, of the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability questionnaire (Sekhon et al., 2017). 13. In the 10 weeks (1-month follow-up) and 26 weeks (6-month follow-up) assessments, we will additionally measure continued use of h | — |
Countries
Sweden
Contacts
Public ContactFreddie Lymeus
Outcome results
None listed