Abstract
This study examines the perceptions and engagement tendencies of 788 university students, as well as their relationship with psychological distress, with respect to an on-campus ecological wetland. The students’ awareness, understanding, perceived importance, satisfaction level, and engagement tendency towards the ecological wetland were evaluated using a structured questionnaire. The psychological symptoms were assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem and depression, anxiety, and stress scales, and the predictors of psychological distress were determined. The majority of the students were actively engaged (62.3%), aware (88.3%), and satisfied (51.0%) with the ecological wetland. Gender, age, educational attainment, engagement, perceived importance, and satisfaction level towards the ecological wetland were the predictors of psychological distress. The results outlined the environmental and mental restorative values of the ecological wetland in mediating psychological distress among the university students. These findings shed light on the necessity of preserving the sustainability and integrity of the on-campus ecological wetland. Longitudinal investigations to explore the restorative values of built environments and psychological wellbeing among high-risk populations are warranted.
Highlights
The psychological restorative effects of natural environments are dominated by two complementary but distinguishable theories
The attention restoration theory (ART) describes the role of natural environments in enhancing mental functioning through their unique capacity to govern attention, a cognitive resource that is required for effective functioning in contemporary urban societies
A national pilot project for an ecological stormwater management system, which integrated the concept of best management practices (BMPs) for urban drainage based on the Urban Stormwater Management manual for Malaysia (MSMA), was adopted on the campus
Summary
The psychological restorative effects of natural environments are dominated by two complementary but distinguishable theories. The attention restoration theory (ART) describes the role of natural environments in enhancing mental functioning through their unique capacity to govern attention, a cognitive resource that is required for effective functioning in contemporary urban societies. The stress recovery theory (SRT) describes the restoration from stress when an individual is confronted with a condition that is perceived as demanding or threatening to their wellbeing This model was derived with the assumption that aesthetic responses to the visual stimuli of environmental settings would activate psycho-physiological responses and effective recovery from external stress from the perspective of cognitive restoration, physiological restoration, or affective restoration [3]. The joint effects of the environmental setting and the individual’s preceding affective/cognitive/physiological state on adaptive responses could vary due to stress and avoidance of restoration and could affect behavior [4]
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