Nature-deficit Disorder Research Articles

The case of "Nature-Deficit Disorder" (NDD) and its complications in the absence of a Universally Reliable and Valid Self-Reported Tool

The case of "Nature-Deficit Disorder" (NDD) and its complications in the absence of a Universally Reliable and Valid Self-Reported Tool

Place, space and time: A topological perspective of a forest school-based educational mode of existence

This paper explores the question: ‘how do teachers shape children’s connections to forest places and establish educational ways of being and knowing (an educational mode of existence) during Forest School sessions?’. A Forest School ‘movement’ has grown in popularity in Europe over the last decade, alongside a marked expansion in the field of learning outside the classroom (LOTC). Part of this movement has focused on the importance of developing children’s relationship with nature. However, little literature speaks to how child-nature relationships manifest, nor implications for educational ways of being (and knowing). This paper steps outside of popularised notions of ‘nature deficit disorder’ to reimagine Forest Schooling as intentional construction of a specific educational mode of existence, reliant upon careful evolution of children’s connections to forest places. The term ‘place’ is necessarily complicated in this paper, arguing that only through recent developments in (social) topological perspectives and theories of modes of existence can we begin to fully understand place connection. Drawing on ethnographic data, this paper argues for greater focus on intersections between materiality and meaning constructed in multidimensional time and space in establishing educational modes of existence and related place connections.

Implementation and Outcomes of Outdoor Science Education in an Urban Setting on Primary and Intermediate Level Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

The term nature deficit disorder describes the “human costs of alienation from nature” (Louv, 2019). While not meant to be a medical diagnosis, Louv argues that the condition has, “profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the earth itself” (Louv, 2008). Children most at risk are those who live or go to school in an urban setting, as well as students diagnosed with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). Students diagnosed with EBD are often kept indoors as their teachers and caretakers are frequently trained in the indoor use only of behavior management techniques (Riden et al., 2022). This means that during professional development training, any that pertain to behavior management techniques, procedure, or protocol are routinely taught inside of a classroom, conference room, or recently home office, using an indoor scenario (classroom, auditorium, cafeteria, etc.) as an example of when and how to use these behavior management tools. Outdoor professional development, equipping students with natural tools that can help improve not only their physical but also their mental health, as well as connecting students with nature in a way that teaches them to advocate for the health of the earth, thus becoming citizen stewards are all themes that are part of the massive, currently dysfunctional system that is outdoor education in schools. This study shows that when students are encouraged to interact with nature on their own terms on-task behaviors and motivation increase. Students also retained lesson information and asked follow-up questions after the lesson when taught outside using hands-on activities.

The messy middle: an exploratory study of adolescent environmentalists in North Carolina

Today’s adolescents have grown up with technology as a main element in their lives and are particularly susceptible to experiencing mental health challenges, so-called nature-deficit disorder, and eco-anxiety around the climate crisis. This unique developmental context may necessitate a reconceptualising of adolescents’ relationships with the environment including their connection to nature. We identified nine adolescents from North Carolina who had high levels of connection to nature and participated in environmental education programs. Using reflexive thematic analysis of data gathered through semi-structured interviews, we developed three themes to reflect how this group of US-based adolescents experience their connection to nature: optimism and limitations related to individual actions; environmentalism as more than a phase; and complex relationships (with nature, environmentalism, and technology). This exploratory study has prompted us to reflect upon how traditional conceptualisations of core concepts in the field of environmental education may require more nuance in the twenty-first century.

Exploring the Eco-Psychological Impact of Hyper-Technologized Environments and Ecological Destruction in Anil Menon’s The Beast with Nine Billion Feet

This paper delves into the intricate relationship between human beings and Earth's ecosystems, emphasising their mutualistic reliance on survival. However, contemporary challenges, characterised by excessive resource exploitation and the rise of hyper technologized environments, have resulted in a significant disconnect between humans and nature. This disconnection has precipitated various psychological issues and severed vital bonds between individuals, obstructing adherence to fundamental humanistic principles. Focusing on Anil Menon's book, The Beast with Nine Billion Feet, this paper operates within the framework of eco-psychology, utilising Richard Louv's concept of Nature Deficit Disorder to investigate the widening chasm between humans and nature. Ethical dilemmas, especially concerning the impact of AI and synthetic life forms, have also been explored in this context. The research objective was to unravel the unintended eco-psychological consequences resulting from excessive resource exploitation and an overemphasis on artificial environments. Employing a narrative method, this paper analyses plots, characters, and situations to illustrate this eco-psychological crisis. The main findings underscore Menon's portrayal of characters, showcasing innate human instinct to forge a profound connection with nature. Those residing in proximity to nature lead fulfilling lives, whereas individuals isolated from the environment exhibit varying degrees of Nature Deficit Disorder, compelling them to seek solace in nature.

Factors shaping teenagers and young adults’ approach to hunting

Hunting is an important element in the protection of the natural environment and biodiversity. Demographic changes and people’s distance from nature are causing society to polarize their perception of hunting. Some have ‘’Bambi Syndrome’’ and others so-called ‘’Nature Deficit disorder’’. Factors shaping attitude toward hunting are: sex, age and place of residence: girls and city based children are generally against hunting. Future of wildlife management models largely depends on the attitudes of people towards it in the coming decades. This attitudes are shaping by many different factors but it is lack of knowledge about it. For this purpose, the attitude of young people to hunting should be thoroughly and multidimensionally examined.

Nature Deficit Disorder in Elementary School Students and Countermeasures

Nature Deficit Disorder in Elementary School Students and Countermeasures

Considering humans as integral components of “nature”

Considering humans as integral components of “nature”

“I Wonder What They Do Teach Them in These Schools”: The Chronicles of Narnia and Nature-Deficit Disorder

Throughout The Chronicles of Narnia, nature plays a prominent role in driving good’s triumph over evil, and while Lewis’s environmental activism in writing Narnia has gained critical attention, the connection between his penchant for nature and his educational philosophy has not yet been accordingly considered. Stemming from his early studies of Wordsworth’s Prelude, Lewis illustrates the crucial correlation between children spending time in nature and developing imagination. Lewis replaces English school systems and educational philosophy with natural images ranging from the transformation of pupil desks into rose bushes in Prince Caspian to Aslan’s emergence from the forest and subsequent abolition of Experiment House in The Silver Chair, connecting nature’s role in children’s moral development to their formal education. Lewis’s concerns expressed in Narnia draw renewed relevance with the prominence of technology and standardized testing in today’s classrooms. As Richard Louv argues in Last Child in the Woods, twenty-first century children are experiencing an alienation from nature that is causing physical and spiritual damage. This paper will explore Lewis’s educational philosophy as evidenced within the natural settings of The Chronicles of Narnia, its ramifications in a twenty-first century context and the real-world results of incorporating nature-based education into classrooms for all ages.

Public Libraries in Norway and the U.S.: Looking Outside During and After the Covid-19 Pandemic

Through this examination of trends in outdoor oriented librarianship in Norway and in the United States we see both similarities and differences. In both countries we see efforts focused on promoting reading outdoors. We also see efforts in both countries to take the library outside, thus perhaps ensuring the library’s continued visibility and relevance to the community served. In both cases, library resources and outdoor spaces are woven together, despite challenges associated with taking these resources and programs outside. We also see differences: Norwegians typically consider themselves to be outdoors-oriented people, and the placement of library resources into outdoor spaces could thus be seen as a strategy to “meet people where they are,” outdoors. In contrast, in the United States there is a perception that Americans suffer from nature deficit disorder, and thus there is a focus on leveraging the library to promote more healthy engagement in outdoor spaces. This article sets the stage for larger international trends of this emerging trend, which does not seem to be diminishing even as vaccination rates suggest the COVID-19 Pandemic may be entering a new endemic stage.

Mental Health and Climate Change. The Birth of Eco-Anxiety in the Spanish-Language Press

In recent years we have witnessed a great deal of media interest in climate change, echoing the growing public concern about a complex phenomenon with daunting consequences. This pa­per examines the impact of concepts such as “eco-anxiety” and “solastal­gia” in the Spanish and Latin American written and digital press. These neolo­gisms attempt to explain the emotion­al effects of climate change on men­tal health. Between 2015 and 2019 the words “solastalgia” and “Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD)” slowly made their way into the media, until 2019, when the term “eco-anxiety” became relatively successful in the newspapers. In addition to analysing the factors in­volved in the birth and evolution of this concept, the study describes the most frequently cited emotions, such as fear, anguish, stress, sadness and guilt. The results obtained indicate, on the one hand, that eco-anxiety is still a vague idea and not very present in the media, too often linked to negative emotions, in contradiction of clinical psycholo­gy advice. Meanwhile, emotions such as anger or indignation, which would enable a collective response to climate change, are often neglected.

Insights into Biodiversity Literacy

The loss of biodiversity is a global and local problem and challenge. The problem is solvable only with changed behavior, which can be achieved through education. In the literature, there are no criteria for achieving biodiversity literacy despite internationally binding documents, such as the United Nations’ Agenda 21 and Convention on Biological Diversity, which contain suggestions for biodiversity education. Remoteness from nature is having important consequences for children’s overall well-being and development. They directly impact cognitive development and creativity. The nature deficit disorder and the thesis that the more high tech we become the more nature we need serve as a guide that reminds us of the importance of nature to child development. Eco-mindfulness can reduce nature deficit disorders. The use of these theoretical findings increases the positive attitude toward nature and at the same time toward biodiversity on a practical level. On a theoretical basis, we present the foundations of biodiversity literacy.

A review of Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD) and its disproportionate impacts on Latinx populations

The term ‘built environment’ garnered a lot of attention in the last few decades for making the link between community design and health impacts. It also highlighted how access to green spaces, which has been correlated with positive public health outcomes, is disproportionately unavailable to Latinx communities. With the renaissance of the term Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD), it is fitting to examine the literature through a term that aims at identifying the etiology of this multi-faceted environmental justice issue. We conducted a review of the literature associated with NDD along with surrogate terms to understand the scope of its usage and applicability, as well as to examine NDD through an equity lens. We performed two searches, one focused on NDD and one on green spaces in Latinx communities to identify the research that has investigated green spaces through an equity perspective. We found that there is a dearth of primary research on the topic. This was best illustrated by the difficulty in finding articles on PubMed that explicitly mention NDD in Latinx communities. A strong body of research exists that indicates adequate access to greenspace is associated with many health benefits. However, future research efforts should focus on evaluating the health implications of NDD on Latinx communities so that this public health issue can be addressed head-on.

Impact of COVID-19 Lock-Downs on Nature Connection in Southern and Eastern Africa

The response of African countries immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration was rapid and appropriate, with low infections and mortality rates until June 2020. Severe lock-down measures were effective in Africa; however, the reduction in the amount of natural experience influences the quality of life in modern society. This study is conducted as an international comparative study in five African countries on changes in the perception of health recovery and outdoor activities in urban forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted with 430 respondents to investigate the relationships between COVID-19 stress, indoor activity, appreciation of greenspaces, perception of health recovery, and use of greenspaces. A structural equation model was used for analysis. The visit frequency and staying time in urban forests after lock-down dramatically decreased, raising concerns about nature-deficit disorder across the target countries after the end of the pandemic. This study confirmed urban dwellers’ desire for natural experiences and health recovery during the pandemic and predicts an explosive increase in urban forest utilization after the pandemic has ended.

Engaging design for ecological citizenship: Informing approaches to human–nature interactions

The COVID-19 pandemic forefronted public urban and suburban nature interactions. ‘Human–nature interactions’ produce positive health impacts, knowledge production, risk perception, sustainable behaviour, engagement in conservation and more. Governmental and charitable reporting documents ‘nature deficit disorder’. The Design Economy report (2021) highlights that social, environmental and economic design must engage communities. Ergo, building community empowerment, is paramount to catalyse and embed sustainable design practices. The authors define a contemporary design space, unpick strategies and present ‘approaches to human–nature interactions’ insights. The My Naturewatch (NW) project features an accessible DIY camera trap, fostering beneficial nature engagements regardless of location, technological and/or wildlife expertise. NW is central within the outlined design space. The article reports on NW deployment(s) and catalysing organizations and communities. Three studies include: (1) The Wildlife Trusts #30dayswild, digital campaign, (2) The Durrell Trust, placed-based activity and (3) Nova New Opportunities, working with re-located communities. The authors acknowledge communities are sacrosanct and a substantial sustainable design asset for regeneration. The work leverages contemporary ‘phy-digital’ engagements, highlighting practices of social, environmental and public design spaces. The findings insights benefit cultural institutions, practitioners, conservation projects and more.

Addressing Nature-Deficit Disorder Using A Multi-program Area, Multi-State Approach

Youth are spending less time outdoors compared to previous generations. Because youth spend much of their time in school, teachers can provide the critical linkages that introduce students to nature. Unfortunately, teachers often lack access to standards-based STEAM curricula focused on natural resources, do not feel comfortable taking their students outside, and may not be knowledgeable about how to incorporate nature into the classroom. Addressing the nature deficit disorder facing today’s youth and the lack of professional development for teachers requires involvement from Extension (agriculture and natural resources specialists, health and human science educators) and natural resources professionals.

Music Education for Surviving and Thriving: Cultivating Children’s Wonder, Senses, Emotional Wellbeing, and Wild Nature as a Means to Discover and Fulfill Their Life’s Purpose

Children who are supported throughout childhood and adolescence to both maintain their sense of wonder in nature, and honor and explore their wild human nature, are well positioned to mature into soulcentric adults capable of living into their purpose in service to both their culture and the whole of life. However, our society’s ecocidal culture and unjust institutions often replicate oppressions and promote egocentric behaviors that preclude thriving. Additionally, many children are alienated from nature and are thought to have nature-deficit disorder, which can include both mental and physical maladies. In this article I explore conceptions of ecojustice education to further illustrate pathways for curriculum development in music education that might encourage children and adolescents to maintain their sense of wonder in nature, fully develop their sensory capacities, support their mental and emotional wellbeing, attune more carefully to their wild nature and soul’s purpose, and contribute to the environmental and social commons—all which might support human flourishing and the continued survival of our species.

The peculiarities of emotional impact and therapeutic characteristics of wooden sculptures

This article explores the ability of wooden sculptures and objects to influence the psycho-emotional state of a person. It is noted that the gradually expanding gap between man and nature, reflected in rapid development of the large cities and transition of the natural factor therein shifts to the background, generates fundamentally new problematic research and applied field, which requires the creation of operational mechanisms to relieve the escalating tension in a situation of alienation from nature. One of the latest achievements of the European Scientific Community is reference to this topic as the nature deficit disorder, as well as the emerging attempts to solve this issue via natural therapies – specific methods of interaction between man and nature. The article traces and analyzes the possibility of using wooden sculpture as one of instruments for stabilization of psycho-emotional and physical state of a person through interaction with natural material of laconic and natural forms. Thus, the creation of wooden sculptures and their inclusion in training, educational and rehabilitation programs testifies to the characteristics of wooden sculpture as an affordable and effective therapeutic instrument.

The peculiarities of emotional impact and therapeutic properties of wooden sculptures

This article explores the ability of wooden sculptures and objects to influence psychoemotional state of a person. It is noted that the expanding gap between man and nature due to the rapid development of large cities along with the natural factor receding into the background, generate the fundamentally new problematic and applied field that requires the creation of operational mechanisms to release the growing tension in the context of alienation from nature. It is stated that one of the recent achievements of the European scientific community consists in classification of this problematic as the nature deficit disorder, as well as in first steps towards resolving this issue in form of natural therapies – specific ways of human interaction with nature. The author traces and analyzes the possibility of using wooden sculpture as one of the instruments for stabilization pf psychoemotional and physical state of a person via interaction with natural material. Thus, the development of wooden sculptures and their inclusion into training, educational and rehabilitation programs indicates the properties of wooden sculpture as an affordable and effective therapeutic instrument.

The role of nature-deficit disorder in the associations between Mobile phone overuse and well-being and mindfulness

Mobile phone overuse has become an increasingly emergent public health issue globally on which much research has been conducted. Despite this, little research has investigated this topic in relation to the human-nature interaction. In order to address this gap, two studies were designed to investigate the association between mobile phone overuse and nature-deficit disorder as well as the role of nature-deficit disorder in the relations between mobile phone overuse and well-being and mindfulness. Results obtained from self-report measures revealed that mobile phone overuse was related to less nature contact. In addition, mobile phone overuse was linked with lower subjective well-being, psychological well-being and mindfulness by virtue of lower frequency of nature contact. The current research advances our understanding of people-environment relations. Furthermore, on the basis of the human-nature interaction, it suggests a relatively low-cost way to weaken the negative association between mobile phone overuse and its psychological outcomes, and thus highlights the value of introducing nature contact into the research on mobile phone overuse.