The association between natural environments and childhood mental health and development: A systematic review and assessment of different exposure measurements

Abstract

Background: Several studies have assessed the relationship between exposure to natural environments (NEs) and childhood mental health and development. In most cases, a positive association has been found, but results are inconsistent, and the strength of association is unclear. This inconsistency may reflect the heterogeneity in measurements used to assess NE.

Objectives: This systematic review aims to identify the most common NE metrics used in childhood mental health and development research. Our second aim is to identify the metrics that are most consistently associated with health and assess the relative strength of association depending on type of NE exposure measurement, in terms of metric used (i.e., measurement technique, such as remote sensing), but also rate (i.e., spatial and temporal exposure).

Methods: We used the PRISMA protocol to identify eligible studies, following a set of pre-defined inclusion criteria based on the PECOS strategy. A number of keywords were used for retrieving relevant articles from Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, and Web of Science databases between January 2000-November 2020. From these, we extracted data on type of NE measurement and relative association to a number of indicators of childhood mental health and development. We conducted a systematic assessment of quality and risk of bias in the included articles to evaluate the level of evidence. Case studies and qualitative studies were excluded.

Results: After screening of title (283 studies included), abstract, and full article, 45 studies were included in our review. A majority of which were conducted in North America and Europe (n = 36; 80%). The majority of studies used land use or land covers (LULC, n = 24; 35%) to determine exposures to NEs. Other metrics included the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), expert measures (e.g., surveys of data collection done by experts), surveys (e.g., self-reported assessments), and use of NE (e.g., measures of a participant's use of NE such as through GPS tracts or parent reports). Rate was most commonly determined by buffer zones around residential addresses or postal codes. The most consistent association to health outcomes was found for buffers of 100 m, 250 m, 500 m, and within polygons boundaries (e.g., census tracts). Six health categories, academic achievement, prevalence of doctor diagnosed disorders, emotional and behavioral functioning, well-being, social functioning, and cognitive skills, were created post hoc. We found sufficient evidence between NDVI (Landsat) and emotional and behavioral well-being. Additionally, we found limited evidence between LULC datasets and academic achievement; use of NE, parent/guardian reported greenness, and expert measures of greenness and emotional and behavioral functioning; and use of NE and social functioning.

Discussion: This review demonstrates that several NE measurements must be evaluated further before sufficient evidence for a potential association between distinct NE exposure metrics and childhood mental health and development can be established. Further, we suggest increased coordination between research efforts, for example, by replication of studies and comparing different NE measurements systematically, so that effect sizes can be confirmed for various health outcomes. Finally, we recommend implementing research designs that assess underlying pathways of nature-health relations and utilize measurement techniques that adequately assess exposure, access, use, and perception of NEs in order to contribute to a better understanding of health impacts of surrounding natural environments.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Exposure; GIS; Green spaces; Public health; Urban nature.