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Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women

The effects of forest activities on health promotion have received increasing attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of brief walks in forests on young women. The experiments were conducted in 6 forests (test) and 6 city areas (control). Overall,...

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Autores principales: Song, Chorong, Ikei, Harumi, Kagawa, Takahide, Miyazaki, Yoshifumi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6351942/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30650572
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020229
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author Song, Chorong
Ikei, Harumi
Kagawa, Takahide
Miyazaki, Yoshifumi
author_facet Song, Chorong
Ikei, Harumi
Kagawa, Takahide
Miyazaki, Yoshifumi
author_sort Song, Chorong
collection PubMed
description The effects of forest activities on health promotion have received increasing attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of brief walks in forests on young women. The experiments were conducted in 6 forests (test) and 6 city areas (control). Overall, 12 participants in each area (60 participants in total, mean age: 21.0 ± 1.3 years) were instructed to walk in a forest and a city area for approximately 15 min; simultaneously, their heart rate variability, heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse rate were measured to quantify their physiological responses to walking. The modified semantic differential method, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to determine their psychological responses. Walking in a forest was associated with significantly higher parasympathetic nervous activity and lower sympathetic nervous activity and heart rate. In addition, scores for the comfortable, relaxed, and natural parameters and vigor subscale of POMS were significantly higher, whereas scores for negative feelings, such as tension–anxiety, depression–dejection, anger–hostility, fatigue, and confusion, were significantly lower, as were the total mood disturbance of POMS and the anxiety dimension of the STAI. The subjective evaluations were generally in accordance with the physiological responses. A brief walk in a forest resulted in physiological and psychological relaxation effects in young women.
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spelling pubmed-63519422019-02-01 Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women Song, Chorong Ikei, Harumi Kagawa, Takahide Miyazaki, Yoshifumi Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The effects of forest activities on health promotion have received increasing attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of brief walks in forests on young women. The experiments were conducted in 6 forests (test) and 6 city areas (control). Overall, 12 participants in each area (60 participants in total, mean age: 21.0 ± 1.3 years) were instructed to walk in a forest and a city area for approximately 15 min; simultaneously, their heart rate variability, heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse rate were measured to quantify their physiological responses to walking. The modified semantic differential method, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to determine their psychological responses. Walking in a forest was associated with significantly higher parasympathetic nervous activity and lower sympathetic nervous activity and heart rate. In addition, scores for the comfortable, relaxed, and natural parameters and vigor subscale of POMS were significantly higher, whereas scores for negative feelings, such as tension–anxiety, depression–dejection, anger–hostility, fatigue, and confusion, were significantly lower, as were the total mood disturbance of POMS and the anxiety dimension of the STAI. The subjective evaluations were generally in accordance with the physiological responses. A brief walk in a forest resulted in physiological and psychological relaxation effects in young women. MDPI 2019-01-15 2019-01 /pmc/articles/PMC6351942/ /pubmed/30650572 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020229 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Song, Chorong
Ikei, Harumi
Kagawa, Takahide
Miyazaki, Yoshifumi
Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title_full Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title_fullStr Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title_short Effects of Walking in a Forest on Young Women
title_sort effects of walking in a forest on young women
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6351942/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30650572
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020229
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