Residential Green Space Research Articles

Residential greenspace is associated with mental health via intertwined capacity-building and capacity-restoring pathways

BackgroundExperiences afforded by natural settings promote health by helping people to build new adaptive capacities and to restore existing capacities. The aim of this study was to examine relations among restorative experience, mindfulness, rumination and psychological resilience in pathways linking residential greenspace to anxiety and depression symptoms. MethodsWe sampled 529 university students residing in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Residential greenspace was measured in terms of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and tree cover density for different buffer sizes. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (7-item) and Patient Health Questionnaire (9-item), respectively. The following mediators were assessed by self-report: perceived greenspace, restorative quality of the neighborhood, dispositional mindfulness, rumination, and psychological resilience. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test the theoretically-indicated relations among the variables. ResultsAcross different buffer sizes, higher greenspace was consistently associated with reduced scores on the anxiety and depression scales. This effect was partially mediated via several pathways. Specifically, higher NDVI 500-m was associated with higher perceived greenspace, and in turn, with higher restorative quality, and then with higher mindfulness, lower rumination, and greater resilience to stress, and consequently, with better mental health. ConclusionsOur findings affirm the potential of greenspace for building psychological resilience and promoting health by offsetting dysfunctional rumination and facilitating mindfulness as components of intertwined capacity-building and capacity-restoring pathways.

Spending at least 120\u2009minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing

Spending time in natural environments can benefit health and well-being, but exposure-response relationships are under-researched. We examined associations between recreational nature contact in the last seven days and self-reported health and well-being. Participants (n = 19,806) were drawn from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey (2014/15–2015/16); weighted to be nationally representative. Weekly contact was categorised using 60 min blocks. Analyses controlled for residential greenspace and other neighbourhood and individual factors. Compared to no nature contact last week, the likelihood of reporting good health or high well-being became significantly greater with contact ≥120 mins (e.g. 120–179 mins: ORs [95%CIs]: Health = 1.59 [1.31–1.92]; Well-being = 1.23 [1.08–1.40]). Positive associations peaked between 200–300 mins per week with no further gain. The pattern was consistent across key groups including older adults and those with long-term health issues. It did not matter how 120 mins of contact a week was achieved (e.g. one long vs. several shorter visits/week). Prospective longitudinal and intervention studies are a critical next step in developing possible weekly nature exposure guidelines comparable to those for physical activity.

Evaluation on the risk controlling value of urban soil organic pollutants based on land-use planning in China.

Land left after urban industrial enterprises relocate is usually planned for various land-use types that can influence human health risks. In China, urban development consists of at least eight land uses: urban residential (UR), public administration/service (PA/S), commercial/service (C/S), industrial, logistics storage, transportation (TR), public utility, and park green space. The (PA/S) type has two classes: PA/S1 includes administrative, cultural relics and historic, foreign affairs, and religious facility lands, with adults the sensitive recipients. Class PA/S2 includes lands related to cultural facilities, education and scientific research, sports, medical, and social welfare facilities, in which children are the sensitive recipients. The UR type has UR 1 and UR 2 classes with and without underground space, respectively. The C/S type has C/S1 and C/S2 classes with and without underground space, respectively. The TR type has TR1, TR2, and TR3 classes which indicate urban road, subway, and traffic hub land, respectively. To the above, we applied conceptual models and exposure pathways of volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds. Exposure parameters were investigated for six regions and above eight land uses featuring different soil, climate, and population behavior characteristics: north, east, south, northwest, northeast, and southwest (covering China entirely). Risk controlling values (RCVs) corresponding to a lifetime cancer risk of 10-6 in this paper were calculated using the C-GAC model introduced by 'Chinese Technical Guidelines for Risk Assessment of Contaminated Sites' with above exposure parameters to determine whether it has potentially significant levels of contamination that may warrant further investigation. Our results revealed two main patterns: (1) our soil risk controlling values for the six regions-north, east, south, northwest, northeast, and southwest-revealed some between-region variability (up to 28%). Hence, for urban contaminated sites in different regions of China, different RCVs should be considered when evaluating possible health risks. (2) The results for the organic pollutants tested across the eight types of land use showed maximum values up to 90 times the minimum value. The greater the risk controlling value of the same pollutant, the less sensitive the site is to that pollutant. Urban road land, traffic hub land, and park green space land are not sensitive to volatile organic pollutants.

Could nature help children rise out of poverty? Green space and future earnings from a cohort in ten U.S. cities

BackgroundGrowing up in poverty is associated with poor health, and the American Dream of upward mobility is becoming an illusion for many low-income children. But nearby green space can support academic achievement, creativity, and emotional regulation, and these traits might help children rise out of poverty. ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between recent incomes of children born into poverty in the ten largest U.S. cities and densities of residential green space during childhood. MethodsWe calculate park proximity, park acreage, new park development, and NDVI greenness for 1980–1990 from Landsat and Trust for Public Land data. We obtain the 2014 income for children born between 1978 and 1982 into families in poverty from The Opportunity Atlas cohort, aggregated at the tract level (n = 5849). ResultsConditional autoregressive (CAR) models of tracts show statistically significant associations between income rank and above-average levels of greenness but not between income rank and park measures, adjusting for individual and neighborhood confounders and spatial autocorrelation. We estimate that, over a 30-year career, children growing up in tracts with the most vegetative cover will earn cumulatively $28,000 more than children growing up in tracts with the least cover, on average. Tracts with lower than average levels of precipitation, higher disadvantage, higher population density, or higher annual temperatures do not show beneficial effects of green space. ConclusionsGreenness may be weakly associated with children rising out of poverty in wetter, cooler, less-dense, more advantaged census tracts.

Social Inequalities in Environmental Resources of Green and Blue Spaces: A Review of Evidence in the WHO European Region.

Residential green and blue spaces and their potential health benefits have received increasing attention in the context of environmental health inequalities, because an unequal social distribution of these resources may contribute to inequalities in health outcomes. This systematic review synthesised evidence of environmental inequalities, focusing on availability and accessibility measures of green and blue spaces. Studies in the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region published between 2010 and 2017 were considered for the review. In total, 14 studies were identified, where most of them (n = 12) analysed inequalities of green spaces. The majority had an ecological study design that mostly applied deprivation indices on the small area level, whereas cross-sectional studies on the individual level mostly applied single social measures. Ecological studies consistently showed that deprived areas had lower green space availability than more affluent areas, whereas mixed associations were found for single social dimensions in cross-sectional studies on the individual level. In order to gain more insights into how various social dimensions are linked to the distribution of environmental resources within the WHO European Region, more studies are needed that apply comparable methods and study designs for analysing social inequalities in environmental resources.

Developing Urban Green Space Classification System Using Multi-Criteria: The Case of Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia

Abstract In many countries urban green spaces are stated in a set of different administrative regulatory framework. However, their definition and characteristics are inconsistent and developing a systematic classification has been recognized to avoid the inconsistency. Several efforts have been made but the approach mainly based on a few criteria and classified manually according to the types that stated in the regulatory framework. Therefore, this study developed a classification system based on multi-criteria that represents the structure and function of urban green spaces using Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia as a model. The useful of the systematic classification for urban green spaces planning and management was interpreted through landscape pattern analysis. In this study, land use map of Kuala Lumpur City was used as a based. Through field observation, information from Kuala Lumpur City Hall and satellite image interpretation, seven criteria were identified to develop the classification system. Landscape pattern was based on landscape metrics analyzed using FRAGSTAT 3.3. The analysis defined five categories of urban green spaces: conservation green space, greenway, community green space, residential green space and amenity green space. Landscape pattern analysis has allowed to interpret what category needs attention to improve their quality and quantity as well as to protect them from any land use development. It can be assumed that the multi-criteria approach can be considered as a first step to introduce a more systematic way to categorize urban green spaces and addressing the inconsistency issue which is important for the city to develop sustainably.

Sustainability of Urban Soil Management: Analysis of Soil Physicochemical Properties and Bacterial Community Structure under Different Green Space Types

Soil bacterial communities play a key role in nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning. This study aims to reveal how green space type impacts soil quality and the bacterial community, which finally contributes to suggesting strategies for managing sustainable environments in urban areas. For this purpose, urban green space soils in this study are divided into four different types; park green space (PARK), street green space (STREET), attached green space (ATTACH) and residential green space (RESID). Results showed that significant differences were observed for soil physicochemical properties. Soil organic matter, total nitrogen, soil moisture content and available nitrogen in the ATTACH and PARK soils were significantly higher than in the STREET and RESID soils. Across the four green space types, the structure of bacterial communities was dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi at the phylum level. The diversity and richness of bacteria were significantly higher in the PARK and ATTACH soils than in the RESID and STREET soils. Results of principal component analysis (PCoA) showed that soil bacterial communities could be clustered into four different groups according to different green space types. In addition, analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) also implied that soil samples differed significantly from others. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Spearman correlation analysis both showed that the contents of soil organic matter, total nitrogen, soil moisture and pH had great influence on the structures of bacterial communities. In summary, these results suggest that soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities can be strongly affected by green space types, and thus, objective assessment of a particular measure can be provided to land managers and policy makers for informed decision-making in urban development and sustainability.

Using high-resolution residential greenspace measures in an urban environment to assess risks of allergy outcomes in children

Despite reported health benefits of urban greenspace (gs), the epidemiological evidence is less clear for allergic disease. To address a limitation of previous research, we examined the associations of medium- and high-resolution residential gs measures and tree and/or grass canopies with allergic outcomes for children enrolled in the longitudinal cincinnati childhood allergy and air pollution study (ccaaps). We estimated residential gs based on 400 m radial buffers around participant addresses (n = 478) using the normalized differential vegetation index (ndvi) and land cover-derived urban greenspace (ugs) (tree and grass coverage, combined and separate) at 30 m and 1.5–2.5 m resolution, respectively. Associations between outdoor aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis at age 7 and residential gs measures at different exposure windows were examined using multivariable logistic regression models. A 10% increase in ugs-derived grass coverage was associated with an increased risk of sensitization to grass pollens (adjusted odds ratio [aor]: 1.27; 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.58). For each 10% increase in ugs-derived tree canopy coverage, nonstatistically significant decreased odds were found for grass pollen sensitization, tree pollen sensitization, and sensitization to either (aor range = 0.87–0.94). Results similar in magnitude to ugs-tree canopy coverage were detected for ndvi and allergic sensitizations. High-resolution (down to 1.5 m) gs measures of grass- and tree-covered areas showed associations in opposite directions for different allergy outcomes. These data suggest that measures strongly correlated with tree canopy (e.g., ndvi) may be insufficient to detect health effects associated with proximity to different types of vegetation or help elucidate mechanisms related to specific gs exposure pathways.

Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood

Urban residence is associated with a higher risk of some psychiatric disorders, but the underlying drivers remain unknown. There is increasing evidence that the level of exposure to natural environments impacts mental health, but few large-scale epidemiological studies have assessed the general existence and importance of such associations. Here, we investigate the prospective association between green space and mental health in the Danish population. Green space presence was assessed at the individual level using high-resolution satellite data to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index within a 210 × 210 m square around each person's place of residence (∼1 million people) from birth to the age of 10. We show that high levels of green space presence during childhood are associated with lower risk of a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders later in life. Risk for subsequent mental illness for those who lived with the lowest level of green space during childhood was up to 55% higher across various disorders compared with those who lived with the highest level of green space. The association remained even after adjusting for urbanization, socioeconomic factors, parental history of mental illness, and parental age. Stronger association of cumulative green space presence during childhood compared with single-year green space presence suggests that presence throughout childhood is important. Our results show that green space during childhood is associated with better mental health, supporting efforts to better integrate natural environments into urban planning and childhood life.

Analysis on the Weights of Green Space Index of Cold Rural Houses Based on Expert Decision

The residential courtyard in the rural areas of the cold area is inseparable from the life of the elderly. The quality of the courtyard green space closely affects the health status of the elderly.This paper selects the green space of the rural residential courtyard in the cold area as the research object. Firstly, it uses the literature analysis and the rooted theory to construct the evaluation index model. Secondly, the fuzzy Delphi method is used to modify the evaluation index system. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process is used to assign local and global weights to the indicators from the perspective of expert groups. In cold areas, the importance of the indicators, of the green space of rural houses, are explored for the health of the elderly. It provides reference and reference for the design decision-making stage of the health promotion optimization of the residential courtyard green space.

Residential Greenspace Association with Childhood Behavioral Outcomes

To assess the relationship between greenspace exposure and childhood internalizing and externalizing behaviors. We analyzed data from the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study, an ongoing prospective birth cohort. Greenspace exposure was estimated based on children's addresses using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images. Neurobehavioral outcomes were assessed using the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition. Regression models adjusted for neighborhood deprivation, maternal education, race, and sex assessed the risk for problematic internalizing and externalizing behaviors at residential greenspace buffers of 200, 400, and 800 m. There were 562 and 313 children in our age 7- and 12-year analyses, respectively. At age 7 years, a 0.1-unit increase in NDVI was associated with decreased conduct scores (β = -1.10, 95% CI [-2.14, -0.06], 200 m). At age 12 years, a 0.1-unit increase in NDVI was associated with a decrease in anxiety scores (β = -1.83, 95% CI [-3.44, -0.22], 800 m), decreased depression scores (β = -1.36, 95% CI [-2.61, -0.12], 200 m), and decreased somatization scores (β = -1.83, 95% CI [-3.22, -0.44], 200 m). This study provides evidence that increased exposure to residential greenspace is associated with reduced youth's problematic internal and external behaviors, measured by Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, at ages 7 and 12 years. Improved understanding of this mechanism could allow for implementation of neighborhood-level approaches for reducing the risk for childhood behavioral problems.

Residential green and blue space associated with better mental health: a pilot follow-up study in university students.

Previous research has suggested that natural urban environment (green space and blue space) benefit mental health, but only a few longitudinal studies have explored the underlying mechanisms. In this pilot study we aimed to examine mechanisms/variables mediating associations between residential green/blue space and symptoms of anxiety/depression in 109 Bulgarian students from Plovdiv university. The students were followed from the beginning to the end of the school year (October 2017 to May 2018). Residential green space was defined as the mean of the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) in circular buffers of 100, 300, and 500 m around their residences. Blue space was assessed based on its presence in the same buffers. Levels of anxiety/depression were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. The investigated mediator variables included residential noise (LAeq) and air pollution (NO2), environmental annoyance, perceived restorative quality of the neighbourhood, neighbourhood social cohesion, physical activity, and sleep disturbance. Cross-sectional data (obtained at baseline) showed that higher NDVI correlated with better mental health only indirectly through higher physical activity and restorative quality. Longitudinal (follow-up) data showed improved mental health but no significant effect of mediator variables. Similarly, blue space correlated with better mental health in all models, but physical activity and restorative quality were significant mediator variables only in the cross-sectional analysis. Our findings support that green space and blue space are psychologically restorative features in urban environment. Future research should replicate these findings in the general population and employ longitudinal modelling tailored to the specific mechanisms under study.

Residential green space and pathways to term birth weight in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study

BackgroundA growing number of studies observe associations between the amount of green space around a mother’s home and positive birth outcomes; however, the robustness of this association and potential pathways of action remain unclear.ObjectivesTo examine associations between mother’s residential green space and term birth weight within the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study and examine specific hypothesized pathways.MethodsWe examined 2510 births located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto Canada. Green space was estimated around mother’s residences during pregnancy using Landsat 30 m normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We examined hypothesized pathways of: (1) reduction of environmental exposure; (2) built environment features promoting physical activity; (3) psychosocial conditions; and (4) psychological influences. Linear regression was used to assess associations between green space and term birth weight adjusting first for a comprehensive set of confounding factors and then incrementally for pathway variables.ResultsFully adjusted models showed non-statistically significant increases in term birth weight with increasing green space. For example, a 0.1 increase in NDVI within 500 m was associated with a 21.5 g (95% CI − 4.6, 47.7) increase in term birth weight. Associations varied by city and were most robust for high-density locations. For the two largest cities (Vancouver and Toronto), we observed an increase in birth weight of 41.2 g (95% CI 7.8, 74.6) for a 0.1 increase in NDVI within 500 m. We did not observe substantial reductions in the green space effect on birth weight when adjusting for pathway variables.ConclusionOur results highlight the need to further characterize the interactions between green space, urban density and climate related factors as well as the pathways linking residential green space to birth outcomes.

Identifying high-risk built environments for severe bicycling injuries

Introduction: This study is aimed at filling part of the knowledge gap on bicycling safety in the built environment by addressing two questions. First, are built environment features and bicyclist injury severity correlated; and if so, what built environment factors most significantly relate to severe bicyclist injuries? Second, are the identified associations varied substantially among cities with different levels of bicycling and different built environments? Methods: The generalized ordered logit model is employed to examine the relationship between built environment features and bicyclist injury severity. Results: Bicyclist injury severity is coded into four types, including no injury (NI), possible injury (PI), evident injury (EI), and severe injury and fatality (SIF). The findings include: (a) higher percentages of residential land and green space, and office or mixed use land are correlated with lower probabilities of EI and SIF; (b) land use mixture is negatively correlated with EI and SIF; (c) steep slopes are positively associated with bicyclist injury severity; (d) in areas with more transit routes, bicyclist injury is less likely to be severe; (e) a higher speed limit is more likely to correlate with SIF; and (f) wearing a helmet is negatively associated with SIF, but positively related to PI and EI. Practical applications: To improve bicycle safety, urban planners and policymakers should encourage mixed land use, promote dense street networks, place new bike lanes in residential neighborhoods and green spaces, and office districts, while avoiding steep slopes. To promote bicycling, a process of evaluating the risk of bicyclists involving severe injuries in the local environment should be implemented before encouraging bicycle activities.

Residential green space quantity and quality and symptoms of psychological distress: a 15-year longitudinal study of 3897 women in postpartum

BackgroundExperiments and large-scale epidemiological studies indicate the importance of green space for mental health. However, little research has been conducted to elucidate whether these mental health benefits are more dependent upon the quantity or quality of the green space.MethodsSymptoms of psychological distress were measured in 3897 women who did not change neighbourhood up to 15 years postpartum using the Kessler 6 psychological distress scale from 2004 onwards. The percentage land-use of the neighbourhood was used to ascertain a measure of green space quantity. A Likert scale was used to measure green space quality in response to the statement “there are good parks, playgrounds and play spaces in this neighbourhood.” Multilevel negative binomial growth curve regression models were used to examine the patterning of symptoms of psychological distress across the postpartum period in relation to green space quantity and quality, adjusting for person-level and geographical markers of confounding. The same variables were also fitted in multilevel logistic regressions to examine the odds of reporting serious mental illness (as defined by K6 scores ≥ 13 out of 24).ResultsSymptoms of psychological distress were fewer among women who agreed (rate ratio (RR) 0.95, 95%CI 0.91 to 0.98) and strongly agreed (RR 0.89, 95%CI 0.85 to 0.93) local parks were good quality. The odds of reporting serious mental illness were also lower among women who agreed (odds ratio (OR) 0.88, 95%CI 0.77 to 1.00) and strongly agreed (OR 0.74, 95%CI 0.64 to 0.86) local parks were good quality. No association was found between green space quantity and symptoms of psychological distress or the odds of reporting serious mental illness.ConclusionsThis study suggests it may be how mothers perceive green space nearby and what those spaces enable them to do, rather than simply how much there is overall, that is important for promoting mental health in the postpartum period. In conclusion, community consultation is likely to be a crucial part of strategies that maximise the health benefits of urban greening for everyone.

Does Residential Green and Blue Space Promote Recovery in Psychotic Disorders? A Cross-Sectional Study in the Province of Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Mental health is reportedly influenced by the presence of green and blue space in residential areas, but scientific evidence of a relation to psychotic disorders is scant. We put two hypotheses to the test: first, compared to the general population, psychiatric patients live in neighborhoods with less green and blue space; second, the amount of green and blue space is negatively associated with the duration of hospital admission. The study population consisted of 623 patients with psychotic disorders who had been admitted to the psychiatric ward of an academic hospital in Utrecht, The Netherlands from 2008 to 2016. Recovery was measured by length of stay. Structured patient data was linked to socio-economic status and the amount of green and blue space in the residential area. Associations were assessed by means of regression models controlling for confounding factors. Compared to the general population, psychiatric patients had a significantly lower amount of green space in their neighborhood. This result was not confirmed for blue space. Furthermore, no significant associations were found between green and blue space and the duration of hospital stay. In conclusion, previous studies focusing on other mental disorders, like anxiety or depression, found positive mental health effects of green and blue space in the neighborhood. We were not able to confirm significant effects among our study population on duration of admission, however. Future research focusing on psychotic patients could investigate the influence of exposure to green and blue space on other influences and outcomes on mental health.

Greenspace seems protective of both high and low blood pressure among residents of an Alpine valley

BackgroundThere is some data suggesting that residential greenspace may protect against high blood pressure in urbanized areas, but there is no evidence of effects on hypotension, in less urbanized areas, and in idiosyncratic geographic contexts such as mountain valleys. ObjectivesThe current study aimed to investigate the associations between residential greenspace and blood pressure in an alpine valley in Austria. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 555 adults living in the Lower Inn Valley, Austria. Several definitions of blood pressure were employed: continuously-measured systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), doctor-diagnosed hyper- and hypotension, and high- and low blood pressure medication use. Greenspace metrics considered were: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and tree cover as measures of surrounding greenness in circular buffers of 100 m, 300 m, 500 m, and 1000 m around the home; distance to different types of structured green space; and having a domestic garden and a balcony. Relationships were examined across different definitions of blood pressure and greenspace and evaluated for potential effect modification by demographic factors, presence of a domestic garden/balcony, adiposity, and traffic sensitivity. ResultsHigher overall greenness was associated with 30–40% lower odds of hyper/hypotension and 2–3 mm Hg lower SBP. Similar pattern was revealed for tree cover, however, associations with hypertension were less consistent across buffers, and SBP and DBP were lower only in association with greenness in the 100-m buffer. Having a domestic garden also seemed protective of high DBP. Residing near to forests, agricultural land, or urban green spaces was not related to blood pressure. Higher NDVI500-m was stronger associated with lower SBP in those having a domestic garden, while the effect on DBP was stronger in overweight/obese participants. ConclusionThese findings support the idea that greenspace should be considered as protective of both high and low blood pressure, however, underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood.

Short-Term Air Pollution Exposure, Residential Greenspace, Community Deprivation, and Psychiatric Emergency Visits in Children

Long term exposure to air pollution, residential greenspace, and community deprivation have all been independently associated with anxiety and depression in both children and adults. However, the effect of acute particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) exposures on psychiatric emergency department (ED) visits has not been studied in children. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between community deprivation, residential greenspace, acute PM2.5, and the risk for a psychiatric ED visit during childhood.ED visits from Cincinnati Children’s Medical Hospital Center (CCHMC) between 2011 and 2015 were extracted from the electronic health record and each patient’s geocoded residential address and visit date were used to assess their community deprivation (based on census tract level American Community Survey characteristics), residential greenspace (based on an address level satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index), and individual-level exposure to daily PM2.5 (based on a previously validated spatiotemporal model). We used a case control crossover study design stratified on a rolling 28-day period around the case date and day of week. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio for the risk of a psychiatric ED visit 0 to 3 days after an increase in PM2.5 while unconfounding for daily temperature, holidays, and within-month temporal trends.During the study period, 13,361 childhood psychiatric ED visits occurred at CCHMC. A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 caused an increased risk for a psychiatric ED visit one day (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: [1.02, 1.12]) and two days (OR: 1.05, 95% CI: [1.00, 1.10]) later. The effect of PM2.5 was modified by community deprivation and greenspace (p < 0.001), with children living in areas of higher deprivation being more vulnerable to the effects of PM2.5. Acute PM2.5 is a modifiable exposure that causes increased morbidity associated with childhood psychiatric disorders.

Residential Green Space and Mental Health: Analyses of the Cartagene Population Cohort's Data

Built environment including green space may have an impact on health status like stress, cardiovascular diseases and mortality. However, little research has examined the effects on mental health, e...

Increased Impulsivity in Urban-Dwelling Teens: Role of Ambient Air Temperature and Lack of Neighborhood Greenspace

Ambient temperature and lack of residential greenspace have been associated with increased externalizing behavior, but the neuropsychological processes are unclear. We conducted a longitudinal analysis to examine the association between temperature, greenspace, and impulsivity in urban-dwelling adolescents. Participants (N=982) of the Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior Study, a multi-ethnic cohort of Southern California twins/triplets examined in 2000-2014 (aged 9-21 years), each with repeat measures of impulsivity assessed by the Go/No Go test. Ambient temperature near the residence (6.8±3.0 km) were obtained from local Meteorological Information System and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was used as a proxy for neighborhood greenspace (in 1000-m buffer). A monthly exposure time-series was created and aggregated in short-term (1-, 3-, and 6-month) and long-term (1-, 2-, and 3-year) averages prior to each behavioral assessment. Generalized Poisson mixed models were used to estimate the exposure effects on number of false alarms, adjusting for within-family/-individual correlations and confounders. In separate adjusted analyses, we found average temperature from 1-month to 2-years significantly (all p<0.05) increased impulsivity, while long-term greenspace decreased impulsivity. In models mutually adjusting for temperature and greenspace, the neurotrophic benefits of greenspace disappeared, while the adverse effects of 1- and 3-month temperature remained. These associations could not be explained by sociodemographics, neighborhood quality and socioeconomic characteristics, or season. This is the first epidemiologic evidence supporting the adverse temperature effects on impulsivity, which may contribute to the behavioral effect of diminished greenspace. Future studies need to examine whether increased impulsivity mediates the adverse behavioral effect and how neural networks underlying such neuropsychological processes are perturbed by ambient temperature.