TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Low childhood nature exposure is associated with worse mental health in adulthood
JO  - International journal of environmental research and public health
A1  - Preuß, Myriam
A1  - Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark
A1  - Marquez, Sandra
A1  - Cirach, Marta
A1  - Dadvand, Payam
A1  - Triguero-Mas, Margarita
A1  - Gidlow, Christopher
A1  - Grazuleviciene, Regina
A1  - Kruize, Hanneke
A1  - Zijlema, Wilma
SP  - e16101809
EP  - e16101809
VL  - 16
IS  - 10
N2  - Exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) is associated with health benefits; however, evidence on the impact of NOE exposure during childhood on mental health (MH) and vitality in adulthood is scarce. This study was based on questionnaire data collected from 3585 participants, aged 18-75, in the PHENOTYPE project (2013) in four European cities. Mixed models were used to investigate associations between childhood NOE exposure and (i) MH; (ii) vitality (perceived level of energy and fatigue); and (iii) potential mediation by perceived amount, use, satisfaction, importance of NOE, and residential surrounding greenness, using pooled and city-level data. Adults with low levels of childhood NOE exposure had, when compared to adults with high levels of childhood NOE exposure, significantly worse mental health (coef. -4.13; 95% CI -5.52, -2.74). Childhood NOE exposure was not associated with vitality. Low levels of childhood NOE exposure were associated with lower importance of NOE (OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.66, 0.98) in adulthood. The association with perceived amount of NOE differed between cities. We found no evidence for mediation. Childhood NOE exposure might be associated with mental well-being in adulthood. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to identify mechanisms underlying long-term benefits of childhood NOE exposure.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1661-7827
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101809
ID  - ref1
ER  -