TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Exploring the causal effects of bicycling for transportation on mental health
JO  - Transportation research part D: transport and environment
A1  - Ma, Liang
A1  - Ye, Runing
A1  - Wang, Hongyu
SP  - e102773
EP  - e102773
VL  - 93
IS  - 
N2  - Few studies have investigated how transportation-related bicycling might contribute to better mental health. We investigated the effects of utilitarian bicycling frequency on psychological distress and life satisfaction, and explored the possible causal mechanisms, using large and state-wide representative survey data from Victoria, Australia. Propensity score methods were applied to balance treatment and control groups, effectively reducing the selection bias that potentially confounds the causal effects. This study finds that occasional bicycling was not significantly associated with mental health, while regular bicycling was negatively associated with psychological distress and positively associated with life satisfaction. This study also finds that physical activity levels, physical health conditions, and neighborhood physical environment do not fully mediate the effects of utilitarian bicycling on mental wellbeing. These findings support the policies of promoting transportation bicycling to improve population mental health, and highlight the potential role of regular bicycling in combating psychological distress and improving life satisfaction.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1361-9209
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2021.102773
ID  - ref1
ER  -