The effects and gender-related differences of guided forest therapy program on physiological and psychological health of graduating college students

Abstract

Forest therapy has been proven to have a quantifiable positive impact on human physiological and psychological health. Given that graduating students at university are easy to stress due to changes in life, pressure from their studies, and independence in finance. The main purpose of this research was to explore the effects of guided forest therapy on graduating college students through a field experiment in Pacific Spirit Regional Park which held significant geographical value. This paper investigated the pressure of graduating college students and their needs for forest therapy, and explored the psychological and physiological changes after guided forest therapy. This study also analyzed gender-related psychological and physiological differences. Thirty-six healthy graduating college students were invited to participate in a 2-hour forest therapy program. Likert scales were used to assess students' pressure and the demand for forest therapy. Most of the students were facing the pressure of graduation and were willing to participate in forest therapy. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) were used as physiological measurement indices. Our physiological results indicated that blood pressure significantly decreased, the high-frequency component of HRV (HF) was significantly larger, and the low-to-high-frequency component ratio (LF/HF) was smaller after the forest therapy program, and some beneficial changes in females were more significant than that in males. The participants' mean HR decreased throughout the forest therapy, but there were no significant differences. Mental status was assessed before and after forest therapy using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), employment stress scale and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) for participants. Overall, the guided forest therapy program effectively reduced participants' employment stress and state anxiety. Our research showed that guided forest therapy had positive physiological and psychological benefits for graduating college students. In addition, females obtained more positive physiological benefits than males, and males obtained more positive psychological benefits than females throughout forest therapy.