1. Associations of nature contact with emotional ill-being and well-being: the role of emotion regulation.
- Author
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Bratman GN, Mehta A, Olvera-Alvarez H, Spink KM, Levy C, White MP, Kubzansky LD, and Gross JJ
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Female, Adult, Middle Aged, Emotions, Young Adult, Personal Satisfaction, Adolescent, Surveys and Questionnaires, Adaptation, Psychological, Environment, Emotional Regulation
- Abstract
Nature contact has associations with emotional ill-being and well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are not fully understood. We hypothesised that increased adaptive and decreased maladaptive emotion regulation strategies would be a pathway linking nature contact to ill-being and well-being. Using data from a survey of 600 U.S.-based adults administered online in 2022, we conducted structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. We found that (1) frequency of nature contact was significantly associated with lesser emotional ill-being and greater emotional well-being, (2) effective emotion regulation was significantly associated with lesser emotional ill-being and greater emotional well-being, and (3) the associations of higher frequency of nature contact with these benefits were partly explained via emotion regulation. Moreover, we found a nonlinear relationship for the associations of duration of nature contact with some outcomes, with a rise in benefits up to certain amounts of time, and a levelling off after these points. These findings support and extend previous work that demonstrates that the associations of nature contact with emotional ill-being and well-being may be partly explained by changes in emotion regulation.
- Published
- 2024
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