Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Hypothesis 1: greater availability of neighbourhood green space in deprived urban communities is linked to lower perceived stress;
- Hypothesis 2: greater availability of neighbourhood green space in deprived urban communities is linked to lower levels of physiological stress, as measured by the diurnal patterns of cortisol secretion.
- 3.
- Hypothesis 3: patterns of cortisol secretion in this socially deprived urban population will be differentially expressed in men and women. We did not predict what pattern these would follow by levels of neighbourhood green space.
2. Experimental Section
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Recruitment
2.4. Measures
2.5. Cortisol Sampling Procedure
2.6. Data Cleaning
2.7. Statistical Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Results
Total Mean (SD) | Male Mean (SD) | Female Mean (SD) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percentage sample | 50% | 50% | |||||||
Mean age (years) | 44.75 (6.91) | 44.21 (6.65) | 45.28 (7.20) | ||||||
Level of deprivation ( mean Carstairs score) | 6.64 (2.21) | 6.28 (2.36) | 7.0 (2.02) | ||||||
Work status % | |||||||||
Working part-time (less than 30 h/week) | 3 | 2% | 4% | ||||||
Job-seeking | 67% | 79% | 57% | ||||||
In education | 4% | 4% | 4% | ||||||
Not in work owing to sickness, disability | 11% | 11% | 11% | ||||||
Not in work owing to caring for family | 13% | 4% | 22% | ||||||
Unknown | 1% | 0% | 2% | ||||||
Percentage of green space in residential environment | |||||||||
Low green space < 43% | 73% | 77% | 70% | ||||||
High green space ≥ 43% | 27% | 23% | 30% | ||||||
Perceived Stress (PSS) | 14.28 (5.8) | 18.66 (5.9) * | 21.87 (5.40) * | ||||||
Perceived well-being (SWEMWBS) | 22.35 (4.94) | 23.55 (4.92) * | 21.10 (4.67) * | ||||||
Reported physical activity (days/month) | 8.20 (8.71) | 9.70 (8.9) * | 6.67 (8.29) * | ||||||
Cortisol mean concentration (over 2 days) | 6.00 (2.85) | 6.54 (2.54) | 5.58 (3.08) | ||||||
Cortisol slope (mean slope over 2 days) | 4.00 (5.00) | 4.09 (4.74) * | 3.91 (5.27) * |
Correlations between variables | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Cortisol mean | 2 Cortisol Slope | 3 Stress (PSS) | 4 Well-being | 5 PA | 6 % GS | 7 Bin GS | |
1. Cortisol Mean | 1 | ||||||
2. Cortisol Slope | 0.458 *** | 1 | |||||
3. Stress (PSS) | −0.112 | −0.173 * | 1 | ||||
4. Well-being (SWEMWBS) | 0.099 | 0.109 | −0.616 *** | 1 | |||
5. PA (Physical Activity) | 0.113 | 0.207 * | −0.069 | 0.003 | 1 | ||
6. Percentage Green Space (% GS) | 0.311 *** | 0.121 | −0.286 ** | 0.080 | −0.014 | 1 | |
7. Binary green space (BinGS) | 0.136 | 0.174 * | −0.144 | 0.107 | −0.033 | 0.812 *** | 1 |
Variable | Male mean (SD) | Female mean (SD) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Low Green Space | High Green Space | Low Green Space | High Green Space | |
Perceived Stress (PSS) | 13.24 * (5.80) | 10.92 (5.83) | 16.49 * (5.94) | 14.38 (3.38) |
Cortisol mean concentration (nmol/L) (over 2 days) | 7.62 * (10.22) | 4.61 (1.14) | 4.24 * (2.03) | 6.43 (3.50) |
Cortisol slope (nmol/L) (mean slope over 2 days) | 3.87 (4.89) | 4.98 (4.16) | 3.25 (4.49) | 5.67 (6.85) |
Main Effects | Model 1 Perceived stress (n = 103) | Model 2 Cortisol Slope (n = 88) | Model 3 Cortisol mean (n = 93) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | β | t | 95% CI | β | t | 95% CI | β | t | 95% CI |
Gender (female) | 5.47 *** | 3.11 | 1.98, 8.95 | −0.04 | −0.04 | −1.79, 1.72 | −0.62 *** | −3.06 | −1.02, −0.22 |
Age | −0.14 * | −1.70 | −0.29, 0.02 | 0.13 ** | 2.05 | 0.00, 0.26 | 0.01 ** | 2.29 | 0.00, 0.03 |
Deprivation level | 0.30 | 1.20 | −0.19, 0.78 | 0.00 | 0.00 | −0.39, 0.38 | 0.01 | 0.29 | −0.03, 0.04 |
% green space (continuous) | −0.08 ** | −2.28 | −0.14, −0.01 | - | - | - | −0.001 | −0.21 | −0.01, 0.01 |
binary green space (≥43%) | - | - | - | 3.00 *** | 2.79 | 0.86, 5.14 | - | - | - |
No Garden | 3.48 ** | 2.06 | 0.13, 6.82 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Interaction Effects | |||||||||
No Garden with gender (female) | −4.31 * | −1.93 | −8.75, 0.13 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
% green space (continuous) with gender (female) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 ** | 2.05 | 0.00, 0.02 |
3.2. Discussion
3.3. Limitations
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Roe, J.J.; Thompson, C.W.; Aspinall, P.A.; Brewer, M.J.; Duff, E.I.; Miller, D.; Mitchell, R.; Clow, A. Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10, 4086-4103. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10094086
Roe JJ, Thompson CW, Aspinall PA, Brewer MJ, Duff EI, Miller D, Mitchell R, Clow A. Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2013; 10(9):4086-4103. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10094086
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoe, Jenny J., Catharine Ward Thompson, Peter A. Aspinall, Mark J. Brewer, Elizabeth I. Duff, David Miller, Richard Mitchell, and Angela Clow. 2013. "Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10, no. 9: 4086-4103. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10094086