Residential Greenspace and Child Behavior at Age Seven

Abstract

Background Growing evidence suggests that exposure to greenspace—or space with natural green plant life—is associated with improved health outcomes for children including improved attention, lower rates of depression, and reduced BMI. However, there are few studies of greenspace and children’s health with individual-level covariate data and/or greenspace measurements at multiple time points during child development. Methods Parents and their children enrolled in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study—a prospective birth cohort—completed a clinic visit at seven years of age including the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2), a validated parent-reported assessment of child behavior. BASC-2 subscale t-scores were dichotomized as “typical” (t<60) or “elevated” (t≥60). Greenspace within 400 meters of each child’s residence at birth and at age seven was calculated using the average satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The association between greenspace and behavior was estimated using logistic regression models, and adjusting for appropriate individual-level covariates. Results 599 children completed the age seven clinical examination and had both greenspace and behavior data available. Greenspace within 400 m of the birth record address was not associated with BASC-2 scores. Greenspace surrounding the current address at age seven was associated with decreased BASC-2 subscale scores in multivariate models: conduct problems (OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.50-0.79), atypicality (OR=0.75, 95% CI=0.57-0.99), hyperactivity (OR=0.77, 95% CI= 0.61-0.96), and depression (OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.53-0.95). Conclusions In this cohort of developing children in a Midwestern city in the United States, increased surrounding greenspace at age seven was associated with decreased prevalence of conduct problems, atypicality, hyperactivity, and depression while surrounding greenspace at birth showed no association.