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Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region

Research linking green space and mental health abounds. It also appears that oceanic blue spaces may be salutogenic, benefitting mental health through their expansive viewscapes, and possibly auditory and olfactory stimuli. Yet, it is unknown whether the same is true for freshwater bodies. In this e...

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Autores principales: Pearson, Amber L., Shortridge, Ashton, Delamater, Paul L., Horton, Teresa H., Dahlin, Kyla, Rzotkiewicz, Amanda, Marchiori, Michael J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6716663/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31469889
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221977
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author Pearson, Amber L.
Shortridge, Ashton
Delamater, Paul L.
Horton, Teresa H.
Dahlin, Kyla
Rzotkiewicz, Amanda
Marchiori, Michael J.
author_facet Pearson, Amber L.
Shortridge, Ashton
Delamater, Paul L.
Horton, Teresa H.
Dahlin, Kyla
Rzotkiewicz, Amanda
Marchiori, Michael J.
author_sort Pearson, Amber L.
collection PubMed
description Research linking green space and mental health abounds. It also appears that oceanic blue spaces may be salutogenic, benefitting mental health through their expansive viewscapes, and possibly auditory and olfactory stimuli. Yet, it is unknown whether the same is true for freshwater bodies. In this ecological study, we explored associations between hospitalizations for anxiety/mood disorder in Michigan (>30,000) and proximity to the North American Great Lakes. As a sensitivity analysis, we examined associations for 15 different inland lake sizes. Results showed small, protective effects for distance to Great Lake (β = 0.06, p<0.001) and percentage of inland lakes (β = -0.04, p = 0.004). Unexpectedly, shorter distance to nearest inland lake was associated with higher anxiety/mood disorder hospitalizations. The protective effects of percentage area covered by inland lakes was observed for all lake sizes. These initial findings provide a foundation for future individual-level research with finer measurement of health outcomes and blue space exposure.
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spelling pubmed-67166632019-09-16 Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region Pearson, Amber L. Shortridge, Ashton Delamater, Paul L. Horton, Teresa H. Dahlin, Kyla Rzotkiewicz, Amanda Marchiori, Michael J. PLoS One Research Article Research linking green space and mental health abounds. It also appears that oceanic blue spaces may be salutogenic, benefitting mental health through their expansive viewscapes, and possibly auditory and olfactory stimuli. Yet, it is unknown whether the same is true for freshwater bodies. In this ecological study, we explored associations between hospitalizations for anxiety/mood disorder in Michigan (>30,000) and proximity to the North American Great Lakes. As a sensitivity analysis, we examined associations for 15 different inland lake sizes. Results showed small, protective effects for distance to Great Lake (β = 0.06, p<0.001) and percentage of inland lakes (β = -0.04, p = 0.004). Unexpectedly, shorter distance to nearest inland lake was associated with higher anxiety/mood disorder hospitalizations. The protective effects of percentage area covered by inland lakes was observed for all lake sizes. These initial findings provide a foundation for future individual-level research with finer measurement of health outcomes and blue space exposure. Public Library of Science 2019-08-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6716663/ /pubmed/31469889 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221977 Text en © 2019 Pearson et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Pearson, Amber L.
Shortridge, Ashton
Delamater, Paul L.
Horton, Teresa H.
Dahlin, Kyla
Rzotkiewicz, Amanda
Marchiori, Michael J.
Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title_full Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title_fullStr Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title_full_unstemmed Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title_short Effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: A first, ecological study in the North American Great Lakes region
title_sort effects of freshwater blue spaces may be beneficial for mental health: a first, ecological study in the north american great lakes region
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6716663/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31469889
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221977
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