ABSTRACT Aside from practical interventions such as providing green infrastructure to improve air quality or water contamination and reduce flooding, well-being interventions to increase engagement with the natural environment are one of the fastest growing ways of improving human and environmental health. This feasibility study assessed a novel smartphone app for well-being intervention. Over 30 days the app prompted adults, including those seeking help for a common mental health problem, to notice the good things about urban green or built spaces (control condition). Self-referral was successful with 885 people downloading the app, 435 supplying baseline data and 50 supplying post-intervention data. However, the low number of observations (M = 6 per participant) indicates that 30 days is too long to remain engaged. There were significant improvements in well-being and nature connection, but no difference between green and built space conditions. Limitations, future recommendations regarding improving engagement and marketing to lower socio-economic status groups are discussed.

ABSTRACT Place attachment refers to a process of person-environment interaction that has generated a substantial volume of research. This paper presents a summary of available knowledge regarding place attachment, focusing particularly on residential environments. It offers a definition of place attachment and presents some research strategies. Antecedent variables that contribute to the development of place attachment are also analysed, along with the consequences associated with place attachment. Finally, the relationship between place attachment and the experience of psychological well-being is analysed.

ABSTRACT Bearing in mind the need to understand and analyse the psychological processes involved in pro-environmental behaviour, in order to mitigate the negative effects of the current global ecological crisis, the aim of the research presented here is to analyse the effects of a pro-environmental competency (PEC) training programme on Colombian children. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 102 subjects, evenly distributed between the experimental and control groups (M age = 8.13; SD age = 0.496; 43.1% female and 56.9% male), applying the ECOPRO-N scale and structured quantitative observation to measure pro-environmental competency. The results showed an increase in the pro-environmental competency of the experimental group with respect to the control group, specifically in the dimensions Beliefs (d = 0.75), Knowledge (d = 0.91) and Motives (d = 0.32), with the greatest effect observed in the Knowledge dimension. This verifies the effectiveness of the intervention programme in terms of fostering pro-environmental behaviours among Colombian children.

ABSTRACT Benavente (Portugal) is a small town which, compared to the rest of the country, has higher levels of the following three types of risks: earthquakes (natural risk), criminality (social risk) and the running of the bulls (cultural risk). This has allowed us to explore spatial bias, i.e., whether people have lower perceptions of risk at the local level than at the national or international levels, or if there are any risks strongly related with the local culture that show a different pattern. We also test whether risk perception dimensions identified by a psychometric paradigm relate to the three risk types that are highly prevalent in Benavente. The results support the spatial bias in relation to earthquakes and criminality but reveal a reverse pattern regarding the running of the bulls (cultural risk). The results also showed that people scored higher on the Dread dimension for earthquakes, followed by criminality, with lower scores in regard to the running of the bulls. The opposite was verified regarding the Control dimension.

The concept of nature frequently appears in the literature, and yet it has rarely been explained. One way of understanding it makes reference to the degree of human intervention, creating a classification on a continuum from totally natural to non-natural environments. In order to identify the empirical categories into which this continuum is organized, two studies were carried out. In the first, 99 Spanish participants evaluated 150 photographs in accordance with their degree of naturalness in order to obtain a set of 50 photographs. In the second, 50 Spanish and 48 Mexican participants ordered the photographs in accordance with their own personal criteria. The results show that people organize landscapes in accordance with the presence or absence of buildings, and that each of these two categories comprises a further three subcategories. This fact could be useful when studying the impact of these environments on aspects such as connectedness or well-being.

ABSTRACT Nature experiences are important aspects in the development of children, with positive effects on the physical, mental and social level. Nature experience areas, that is, play areas with natural elements only, instead of constructed play elements, address the aim to support child development. This article analyses the effects of three nature experience areas in a metropolitan area, compared with three playgrounds serving as control areas. In a quasi-experimental design, behaviour observations on play behaviour and autonomy of children playing in either nature experience areas or control playgrounds were conducted in 2017. Results show that the play of children in the nature experience areas was more complex than that of those on the playground. The frequencies of children playing in nature experience areas are lower than on the playground. The autonomous behaviour, measured by social interactions, the involvement of adults and an autonomous mobility, shows a differentiated picture between the three areas. Natural experience areas could provide important aspects to support child developments, and improvements are being discussed.

This paper reports on the affective psychological restoration achieved through exposure to images with varying degrees of restorative potential. By means of an experimental paradigm to evaluate psychological restoration, 55 university students were grouped into two experimental conditions: environments with a high level of restorative potential (HRP; 23, mean age M = 23.70, SD = 5.66) and a low level of restorative potential (LRP; 32, mean age M = 23.31, SD = 1.89). Self-reported scores for stress, fatigue, vigour and arousal were evaluated in both groups, considering a baseline state, after exposure to a stressor, and subsequent to exposure to an environmental condition. After creating a need for restoration, exposure to HRP environments had positive effects on the measures of affect (recovery from stress, reduction in fatigue, greater vitality and arousal), and a significant decrease in levels of vigour post environmental exposure. The results allow us to quantify the impact of a bank of restorative images on the affective restoration of a Mexican population.

ABSTRACT This paper sets out to investigate the relationship between environment and mental health, and specifically between contact with nature and the presence of well-being, satisfaction with life, personality traits and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The sample comprised 59 people aged 18 to 70, and included 29 subjects from Spain and 30 from Italy. The following tests were utilized: a questionnaire about the frequency of activities carried out in natural surroundings, the Five Factor Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory II, the Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. All variables were analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient with the exception of level of education, which was analysed using Spearman’s coefficient. The results suggest that contact with nature positively affects well-being and satisfaction with life, and that there is a negative correlation between contact with nature and symptoms of anxiety and depression.