Abstract
The present study investigated the well-being effects of short-term forest walking and viewing (“forest bathing”). The hypothesis in our study was that both environment (forest vs. urban) and activity (walking and viewing) would influence psychological outcomes. An additional aim was to enhance basic research using several psychological methods. We conducted the experiments using 45 respondents in four areas of Japan from August to September, 2011. The hypothesis in our study was supported, because significant interaction terms between the environment and activity were confirmed regarding the Profile of Mood States (POMS) indexes, Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS) and Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). No statistical differences between the two experimental groups in any of the ten scales were found before the experiment. However, feelings of vigor and positive effects, as well as feelings of subjective recovery and vitality were stronger in the forest environment than in the urban environment.
Highlights
Many stressors of urban life are increasingly driving humans to seek some form of stress relief [1].In modern urbanized societies, acute and chronic stress and insufficient recovery from stress are well known as increasing problems and causes for long-term effects on health [2,3]
The validity and reliability of the Japanese versions of Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) have been confirmed in earlier studies [40,41]
After a 15-min walking followed by a 15-min viewing in the both environments, we found that tension and anxiety, depression and confusion (POMS) were significantly lower, but vigor was significantly higher in the forest environment than in an urban environment
Summary
Many stressors of urban life are increasingly driving humans to seek some form of stress relief [1].In modern urbanized societies, acute and chronic stress and insufficient recovery from stress are well known as increasing problems and causes for long-term effects on health [2,3]. Stress is an important public health interest that is related to mental health problems, such as burnout syndrome, as well as cardiovascular, gastroenterological, immunological and neurological diseases [4]. This suggests that stress control is a vital issue in maintaining good health and preventing stress-related diseases in urbanized societies. Natural environments, including urban parks and natural, secondary, artificial man-made forests are generally associated with stronger positive health effects as compared to urban environments [5]. Natural scenes bring higher tranquility and a reduced feeling of danger compared to urban scenes [6], while outdoor recreation in a “green” environment has been shown to relieve stress among urban inhabitants [7,8]; evidence to date seems to indicate the positive health effect of a natural setting
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