IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v10y2013i9p4086-4103d28468.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Jenny J. Roe

    (School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK)

  • Catharine Ward Thompson

    (OPENspace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Peter A. Aspinall

    (School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Mark J. Brewer

    (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Elizabeth I. Duff

    (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • David Miller

    (James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Richard Mitchell

    (Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of GlasgowGlasgow G12 0XH, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Angela Clow

    (Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, London W1B 2UW, UK
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Contact with green space in the environment has been associated with mental health benefits, but the mechanism underpinning this association is not clear. This study extends an earlier exploratory study showing that more green space in deprived urban neighbourhoods in Scotland is linked to lower levels of perceived stress and improved physiological stress as measured by diurnal patterns of cortisol secretion. Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at 3, 6 and 9 h post awakening over two consecutive weekdays, together with measures of perceived stress. Participants (n = 106) were men and women not in work aged between 35–55 years, resident in socially disadvantaged districts from the same Scottish, UK, urban context as the earlier study. Results from linear regression analyses showed a significant and negative relationship between higher green space levels and stress levels, indicating living in areas with a higher percentage of green space is associated with lower stress, confirming the earlier study findings. This study further extends the findings by showing significant gender differences in stress patterns by levels of green space, with women in lower green space areas showing higher levels of stress. A significant interaction effect between gender and percentage green space on mean cortisol concentrations showed a positive effect of higher green space in relation to cortisol measures in women, but not in men. Higher levels of neighbourhood green space were associated with healthier mean cortisol levels in women whilst also attenuating higher cortisol levels in men. We conclude that higher levels of green space in residential neighbourhoods, for this deprived urban population of middle-aged men and women not in work, are linked with lower perceived stress and a steeper (healthier) diurnal cortisol decline. However, overall patterns and levels of cortisol secretion in men and women were differentially related to neighbourhood green space and warrant further investigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenny J. Roe & Catharine Ward Thompson & Peter A. Aspinall & Mark J. Brewer & Elizabeth I. Duff & David Miller & Richard Mitchell & Angela Clow, 2013. "Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:9:p:4086-4103:d:28468
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/9/4086/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/9/4086/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mackenbach, J.P. & Kunst, A.E. & Groenhof, F. & Borgan, J.-K. & Costa, G. & Faggiano, F. & Józan, P. & Leinsalu, M. & Martikainen, P. & Rychtarikova, J. & Valkonen, T., 1999. "Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality among women and among men: An international study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(12), pages 1800-1806.
    2. Florian Lederbogen & Peter Kirsch & Leila Haddad & Fabian Streit & Heike Tost & Philipp Schuch & Stefan Wüst & Jens C. Pruessner & Marcella Rietschel & Michael Deuschle & Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, 2011. "City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans," Nature, Nature, vol. 474(7352), pages 498-501, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gita Mishra & Kylie Ball & Annette Dobson & Julie Byles & Penny Warner-Smith, 2001. "The Measurement of Socio-Economic Status: Investigation of Gender-and Age-Specific Indicators in Australia: National Health Survey 1995," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 73-89, October.
    2. Edwards, Ryan, 2008. "Widening health inequalities among U.S. military retirees since 1974," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 1657-1668, December.
    3. Maja Adena & Michal Myck, 2013. "Poverty and Transitions in Health," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1319, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Maria Winkler-Dworak, 2008. "The Low Mortality of a Learned Society," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 405-424, December.
    5. Roland Rau & Magdalena Muszyńska-Spielauer & Paul Eilers, 2013. "Minor gradient in mortality by education at the highest ages," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(19), pages 507-520.
    6. Gustav Feichtinger & Dieter Grass & Maria Winkler-Dworak, 2020. "The mathematics of ageing:," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 28(2), pages 371-399, June.
    7. Brittany E Evans & Anja C Huizink & Kirstin Greaves-Lord & Joke H M Tulen & Karin Roelofs & Jan van der Ende, 2020. "Urbanicity, biological stress system functioning and mental health in adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, March.
    8. Miething, Alexander, 2013. "A matter of perception: Exploring the role of income satisfaction in the income–mortality relationship in German survey data 1995–2010," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 72-79.
    9. Martin Gächter & Engelbert Theurl, 2010. "Socioeconomic Environment and Mortality: A two-level Decomposition by Sex and Cause of Death," Working Papers 2010-18, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    10. Bessa, Eduardo & Gonçalves-de-Freitas, Eliane, 2014. "How does tourist monitoring alter fish behavior in underwater trails?," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 253-259.
    11. Wilma L Zijlema & Bart Klijs & Ronald P Stolk & Judith G M Rosmalen, 2015. "(Un)Healthy in the City: Respiratory, Cardiometabolic and Mental Health Associated with Urbanity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Junfang Xie & Binyi Liu & Mohamed Elsadek, 2021. "How Can Flowers and Their Colors Promote Individuals’ Physiological and Psychological States during the COVID-19 Lockdown?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-15, September.
    13. Chorong Song & Harumi Ikei & Yoshifumi Miyazaki, 2018. "Physiological Effects of Visual Stimulation with Forest Imagery," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, January.
    14. Hendi, Arun S. & Elo, Irma T. & Martikainen, Pekka, 2021. "The implications of changing education distributions for life expectancy gradients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    15. Kirsten McEwan & David Giles & Fiona J. Clarke & Yasu Kotera & Gary Evans & Olga Terebenina & Lina Minou & Claire Teeling & Jaskaran Basran & Wendy Wood & Dominic Weil, 2021. "A Pragmatic Controlled Trial of Forest Bathing Compared with Compassionate Mind Training in the UK: Impacts on Self-Reported Wellbeing and Heart Rate Variability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    16. Fei Wang & Shu Li & Xin-Wen Bai & Xiao-Peng Ren & Li-Lin Rao & Jin-Zhen Li & Huan Liu & Hong-Zhi Liu & Bin Wu & Rui Zheng, 2015. "Town Mouse or Country Mouse: Identifying a Town Dislocation Effect in Chinese Urbanization," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    17. Alyson van Raalte & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä, 2014. "Lifespan Variation by Occupational Class: Compression or Stagnation Over Time?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 73-95, February.
    18. Rhiannon Corcoran & Rosie Mansfield & Trina Giokas & Amy Hawkins & Lauren Bamford & Graham Marshall, 2017. "Places Change Minds: Exploring the Psychology of Urbanicity Using a Brief Contemplation Method," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, May.
    19. Hiroko Ochiai & Chorong Song & Harumi Ikei & Michiko Imai & Yoshifumi Miyazaki, 2017. "Effects of Visual Stimulation with Bonsai Trees on Adult Male Patients with Spinal Cord Injury," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-10, September.
    20. Mikko Weckroth & Sanna Ala-Mantila & Dimitris Ballas & Thanasis Ziogas & Jonna Ikonen, 2022. "Urbanity, Neighbourhood Characteristics and Perceived Quality of Life (QoL): Analysis of Individual and Contextual Determinants for Perceived QoL in 3300 Postal Code Areas in Finland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 139-164, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:9:p:4086-4103:d:28468. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.