Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study
Immersion in forest environments was shown to produce beneficial effects to human health, in particular psychophysical relaxation, leading to its growing recognition as a form of integrative medicine. However, limited evidence exists about the statistical significance of the effects and their associ...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8470271/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34574446 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189509 |
_version_ | 1784574156094832640 |
---|---|
author | Meneguzzo, Francesco Albanese, Lorenzo Antonelli, Michele Baraldi, Rita Becheri, Francesco Riccardo Centritto, Francesco Donelli, Davide Finelli, Franco Firenzuoli, Fabio Margheritini, Giovanni Maggini, Valentina Nardini, Sara Regina, Marta Zabini, Federica Neri, Luisa |
author_facet | Meneguzzo, Francesco Albanese, Lorenzo Antonelli, Michele Baraldi, Rita Becheri, Francesco Riccardo Centritto, Francesco Donelli, Davide Finelli, Franco Firenzuoli, Fabio Margheritini, Giovanni Maggini, Valentina Nardini, Sara Regina, Marta Zabini, Federica Neri, Luisa |
author_sort | Meneguzzo, Francesco |
collection | PubMed |
description | Immersion in forest environments was shown to produce beneficial effects to human health, in particular psychophysical relaxation, leading to its growing recognition as a form of integrative medicine. However, limited evidence exists about the statistical significance of the effects and their association with external and environmental variables and personal characteristics. This experimental study aimed to substantiate the very concept of forest therapy by means of the analysis of the significance of its effects on the mood states of anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Seven forest therapy sessions were performed in remote areas and a control one in an urban park, with participants allowed to attend only one session, resulting in 162 psychological self-assessment questionnaires administered before and after each session. Meteorological comfort, the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the forest atmosphere and environmental coherence were identified as likely important external and environmental variables. Under certain conditions, forest therapy sessions performed in remote sites were shown to outperform the control session, at least for anxiety, anger and confusion. A quantitative analysis of the association of the outcomes with personal sociodemographic characteristics revealed that only sporting habits and age were significantly associated with the outcomes for certain psychological domains. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8470271 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-84702712021-09-27 Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study Meneguzzo, Francesco Albanese, Lorenzo Antonelli, Michele Baraldi, Rita Becheri, Francesco Riccardo Centritto, Francesco Donelli, Davide Finelli, Franco Firenzuoli, Fabio Margheritini, Giovanni Maggini, Valentina Nardini, Sara Regina, Marta Zabini, Federica Neri, Luisa Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Immersion in forest environments was shown to produce beneficial effects to human health, in particular psychophysical relaxation, leading to its growing recognition as a form of integrative medicine. However, limited evidence exists about the statistical significance of the effects and their association with external and environmental variables and personal characteristics. This experimental study aimed to substantiate the very concept of forest therapy by means of the analysis of the significance of its effects on the mood states of anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Seven forest therapy sessions were performed in remote areas and a control one in an urban park, with participants allowed to attend only one session, resulting in 162 psychological self-assessment questionnaires administered before and after each session. Meteorological comfort, the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the forest atmosphere and environmental coherence were identified as likely important external and environmental variables. Under certain conditions, forest therapy sessions performed in remote sites were shown to outperform the control session, at least for anxiety, anger and confusion. A quantitative analysis of the association of the outcomes with personal sociodemographic characteristics revealed that only sporting habits and age were significantly associated with the outcomes for certain psychological domains. MDPI 2021-09-09 /pmc/articles/PMC8470271/ /pubmed/34574446 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189509 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Meneguzzo, Francesco Albanese, Lorenzo Antonelli, Michele Baraldi, Rita Becheri, Francesco Riccardo Centritto, Francesco Donelli, Davide Finelli, Franco Firenzuoli, Fabio Margheritini, Giovanni Maggini, Valentina Nardini, Sara Regina, Marta Zabini, Federica Neri, Luisa Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title | Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title_full | Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title_fullStr | Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title_short | Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study |
title_sort | short-term effects of forest therapy on mood states: a pilot study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8470271/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34574446 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189509 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT meneguzzofrancesco shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT albaneselorenzo shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT antonellimichele shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT baraldirita shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT becherifrancescoriccardo shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT centrittofrancesco shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT donellidavide shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT finellifranco shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT firenzuolifabio shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT margheritinigiovanni shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT magginivalentina shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT nardinisara shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT reginamarta shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT zabinifederica shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy AT neriluisa shorttermeffectsofforesttherapyonmoodstatesapilotstudy |