Improving the analysis and reporting of studies of nature-based adventure interventions: a review of studies published in JAEOL

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nature-based adventure (NBA) interventions can be broadly understood as any intervention of adventure occurring in a natural setting not necessarily involving a licensed mental health professional. Evidence suggests that some NBA interventions improve people’s health. Although encouraging, the strength of this evidence is often impaired by the non-random allocation of participants to groups and the lack of comparison groups. These design limitations need additional care during data analysis. Moreover, some studies of NBA interventions omit necessary information for the interpretation of their results, which may lead to inaccurate conclusions and hinder replicability. To exemplify these analytical and reporting issues, we evaluated all quantitative studies assessing the effect of an NBA intervention published in the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning from 2019 to 2021. We provide suggestions to improve the analysis of studies of NBA interventions and discuss the need to report these necessary elements in future studies.