Time Spent Outdoors and Associations with Sleep, Optimism, Happiness and Health before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In the current article titled "Time spent outdoors and associations with sleep, optimism, happiness and health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria" by Simon Schamilow et al, the authors have described the role of time spent outdoors (TSO) affecting the quality of life, including sleep, happiness, optimism, and health. Using surveys conducted in 2017 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (pandemic), the authors have reported that TSO could result in physical activity, and in turn promote sound sleep (reduce insomnia), as well as improve mood and optimism. While this study provides several insights into the topics discussed, it would be good to address the following comments to further improve the quality and readership of this manuscript:

1. Lines 45-56: Describe the effects of melatonin in the introduction and how melatonin production affects sleep.

2. Lines 82-84: Describe briefly surveys 1 and 2.

3. Describe in the introduction or discussion section using references, relating TSO to exercise and fitness activities, and if that could further reduce chances of insomnia (especially by releasing certain hormones by such activities).

4. Describe in the results section, a rationale for the data comparing married vs divorced, and urban vs rural areas of residence and how that could affect TSO and sleep, as well as mental health.

5. Lines 227-248: Are there studies that relate TSO to reducing depressive disorders? Describe in detail.

6. Lines 250-266: How do sleep disorders (or insomnia) affect diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases? Describe in discussion citing studies relevant studies.

Please check for grammatical errors and typos in the manuscript.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors conducted an analysis of survey data from 2017 and 2020, drawing from two Austrian samples. The results indicated a decrease in time spent outdoors in 2020, with further findings showing that an increased duration outdoors correlated with improved sleep and mental health outcomes.

While the manuscript is well-structured and coherent, there are a few areas that could benefit from further clarification and detail:

Major Points:

1. The Results section would benefit from a more detailed statistical breakdown. In particular, it would be helpful if the authors could provide specific statistics (such as F value, p value) corresponding to each statistical test conducted. This applies specifically to the statements on lines 87, 94, 96, and 97 in the initial two paragraphs of the Results section, as well as relevant places in the third and fourth paragraphs.

2. There are several instances within the third and fourth paragraphs of the Results section where the authors refer to supplemental materials that were not included in the manuscript draft I reviewed.

Minor Points:

3. The Discussion section (line 230-232) includes findings related to the sex gap in Time Spent Outdoors (TSO), which were not previously mentioned in the Results section. To reinforce this statement, it would be helpful to highlight any significant interaction effects.

4. In the Methods section, it would be beneficial if the authors could specify whether there was any overlap of participants between the two surveys. If there was overlap, it may necessitate the use of different statistical tests.

5. Also in the Methods section, it would be valuable for the authors to provide some context around what social distancing/isolation measures were being enforced in Austria at the time of the 2020 survey. This would give readers a clearer picture of the social context during this time.

6. Finally, there seems to be a minor error on Line 378 where a p value is listed as zero. Since a p value cannot theoretically be zero, I would suggest using p<.001 instead.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx