Psychological restoration experience through the impact of green environments: The effects of perception of stress and stressors

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/09/2017
Views (183) Download (9)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Psychological restoration experience through the impact of green environments: The effects of perception of stress and stressors

Fahimeh Malekinezhad, Hasanuddin Bin Lamit
J. Bio. Env. Sci.11( 3), 128-136, September 2017.
Certificate: JBES 2017 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

University students demonstrate to be in a great need for psychological and emotional restoration because of the high amount of stress in their academic life. Immediate contact with nature and restoration experience is a solution for the ever increasing problem of stress. Based on theories of restorative environments and supportive landscapes, natural environments help to human psycho-physiological and emotional resources, which are diminishing with excessive stress. However, how the need for restoration can effect on experience of restorative outcomes through impact of perceived environmental qualities and perceived restorativeness have yet to be investigated. Using a sample of Malaysian university students, this study examined the effect of the need for restoration on relationship between environmental qualities, perceived restorativeness and restorative outcomes. Mean analysis (t-test) is based on individual characteristics and relationship between favorite places and restorative outcomes. Through moderation analysis and bootstrapping in PLS-SEM, the effect of perceived stress level on the aforementioned relationships was evaluated. The effect of perceived stress level on restoration experience through the associations of these greenery and restorativeness characteristics were not supported. However, a positive impact on the effect of green landscape qualities on perceived restorativeness has been found. Although impact of perceived open space qualities on perceived restorativeness was supported, when students have highly been confronted with a set of key tensions of university life, the suggested greenery supportive factors have failed to provide significant effect on students after visit feelings of restoration experience.

VIEWS 5

Adevi AA. 2012. Supportive Nature – and Stress Wellbeing in Connection to Our Inner and Outer Landscape. PhD thesis, University of Swedish Agricultural Science.

Banjong DN. 2015. International Students’ Enhanced Academic Performance: Effects of Campus Resources. Journal of International Students 5(1), 132-142.

Beiter R, Nash R, McCrady M, Rhoades D, Linscomb M, Clarahan M, Sammut S. 2015. The Prevalence and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in a Sample of College Students. Journal of Affective Disorders 173, 90-96.

Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. 1983. A Global Measure of Perceived Stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 24(4), 385-396.

Dabrow S, Russell S, Ackley K, Anderson E, Fabri PJ. 2006. Combating the Stress of Residency: One School’s Approach. Academic Medicine 81(5), 436-439.

Daltry RM, Mehr KE. 2015. Therapy Dogs on Cam- pus: Recommendations for Counseling Center Outreach. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy 29(1), 72-78.

Felsten G. 2009. Where to Take a Study Break on the Col- lege Campus: An Attention Restoration Theory Perspective. Journal of Environmental Psychology 29(1), 160-167.

Grahn P, Stigsdotter UK. 2010. The Relation between Perceived Sensory Dimensions of Urban Green Space and Stress Restoration. Landscape and Urban Planning 94(3), 264-275.

Grahn P, Tenngart C, Ulrika I, Bengtsson I. 2010. Using Affordances as a Health-promoting Tool in a Ther- apeutic Garden. In Innovative Approaches to Researching Landscape and Health (pp. 116-154).

Hair JF, Hult G, Ringle C, Sarstedt M. 2016. A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications.

Hartig T, Staats H. 2005. Linking Preference for Environments with their Restorative Quality. In Form Landscape Research to Landscape Planning: Aspects of Integration, Education and Application 279-292.

Hartig T, Staats H. 2006. The Need for Psychological Restoration as a Determinant of Environmental Preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology 26(3), 215-226.

Hartig T. 2011. Issues In Restorative Environments Research: Matters of Measurement. In Psicolog ́ıa Ambiental 41-66.

Hipp JA, Gulwadi GB, Alves S, Sequeira S. 2016. The Relationship between Perceived Greenness and Perceived Restorativeness of University Campuses and Student- Reported Quality of Life. Environment and Behavior 48(10), 1292-1308.

Jogaratnam G, Buchanan P. 2004. Balancing the Demands of School and Work : Stress and Employed Hospitality Students. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 16(4), 237-245.

Kanner AD, Coyne JC, Schaefer C, Lazarus RS. 1981. Comparison of Two Modes of Stress Measurement: Daily Hassles and Uplifts Versus Major Life Events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 4(1), 1-39.

Korpela K, Borodulin K, Neuvonen M, Paronen O, Tyrva ̈inen L. 2014. Analyzing the Mediators between Nature-based Outdoor Recreation and Emotional Well- being. Journal of Environmental Psychology 37, 1-7.

Korpela KM, Yle ́n M, Tyrva ̈inen L, Silvennoinen H. 2008. Determinants of Restorative Experiences in Everyday Favorite Places. Health & Place 14(4), 636-652.

Lau SSY, Gou Z, Liu Y. 2014. Healthy Campus by Open Space Design: Approaches and Guidelines. Frontiers of Architectural Research 3(4), 452-467.

Laumann K, Ga ̈rling T, Stormark K. 2001. Rating Scale Measures of Restorative Components of Environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology 21(1), 31-44.

Lee EH. 2012. Review of the Psychometric Evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale. Asian Nursing Research 6(4), 121-127.

Lehto XY, Park O, Fu X, Lee G. 2014. Student Life Stress and Leisure Participation. Annals of Leisure Research 17(2), 200-217.

Lethbridge K, Yankou D, Andrusyszyn MA. 2005. The Effects of a Restorative Intervention on Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Capacity to Direct Attention. Journal of Holistic Nursing 23(3), 329-347.

Lopez Turley RN, Wodtke G. 2010. College Residence and Academic Performance: Who Benefits from Living on Campus? Urban Education 45(4), 506-532.

Malekinezhad F, Bin Lamit H. 2017. Structural Model to Describe Restoration Experience From The Impact of Environmental Qualities and Mediation Effect of Perceived Restorativeness, 2017080085 DOI: 10.20944/preprints201708.0085.v2

Nordh H, Hartig T, Hagerhall C, Fry G. 2009. Components of Small Urban Parks that Predict the Possibility for Restoration. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 8(4), 225-235.

Peschardt KK, Stigsdotter UK. 2013. Associations between Park Characteristics and Perceived Restorativeness of Small Public Urban Green Spaces. Landscape and Urban Planning 112(1), 26-39.

Pozos-Radillo BE, Preciado-Serrano MdL, Acosta-Ferna ́ndez MDM, Aguilera-Velasco lA, Delgado- Garc ́ıa, DD. 2014. Academic Stress as a Predictor of Chronic Stress in University Students. Psicología Educativa 20(1), 47-52.

Rahat E, Ilhan T. 2016. Coping Styles, Social Support, Relational Self-Construal, and Resilience in Predicting Students’ Adjustment to University Life. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 16(1), 187-208.

Robotham D. 2008. Stress among Higher Education Students: Towards a Research Agenda. Higher Education 56(6), 735-746.

Ross SE, Niebling BC, Heckert TM. 1999. Sources of Stress among College Students. College Student Journal, 33(2), 1-6.

Seitz CM, Reese RF, Strack RW, Frantz S, West B. 2014. Identifying and Improving Green Spaces on a College Campus: A Photovoice Study. Ecopsychology 6(2), 98-108.

Staats H, Hartig T. 2004. Alone or with a Friend: A Social Context for Psychological Restoration and Environ- mental Preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology 24(2), 199-211.

Staats H, Kieviet A, Hartig T. 2003. Where to Recover from Attentional Fatigue: An Expectancy-value Analysis of Environmental Preference. Journal of Environmental Psychology 23(2), 147-157.

Tennessen CM, Cimprich B. 1995. Views to Nature: Effects on Attention. Journal of Environmental Psychology 15(1), 77-85.

Twedt E, Rainey RM, Proffitt DR. 2016. Designed Natural Spaces: Informal Gardens Are Perceived to Be More Restorative than Formal Gardens. Frontiers in Psychology 7(88), 1-10.

Tyrva ̈inen L, Ojala A, Korpela K, Lanki T, Tsunetsugu Y, Kagawa T. 2014. The Influence of Urban Green Environments on Stress Relief Measures: A Field Experiment. Journal of Environmental Psychology 38, 1-9.

Van den Berg AE, Jorgensen A, Wilson ER. 2014. Evaluating Restoration in Urban Green Spaces: Does Setting Type Make a Difference? Landscape and Urban Planning 127, 173-181.