Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, Department of Landscape, Spatial and Infrastructure Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Peter-Jordan-Straße 82/I, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun 8;15(6):1205. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15061205.
Cognitive functioning and academic performance of pupils depend on regular breaks from classroom work. However, it is unclear which settings during such breaks provide the best environment to restore cognitive performance and promote wellbeing of adolescent pupils. Therefore, we investigated the effects of staying in different urban green spaces during breaks. Sixty-four pupils (16⁻18 years old) participated in a cross-over experiment. They were placed into one of three settings (small park, larger park, forest) for one hour during a lunch break. Wellbeing was assessed four times (Nitsch scale), and a cognitive test (d2-R Test of Attention) was applied in the classrooms before and after the break. Wellbeing was almost always highest after the stay in the green spaces. However, a sustained effect was only found for the forest. Concentration performance values of the d2-R test were significantly higher after the pupils’ stay in green spaces for all sites. The highest increase of performance was found for the larger park type. In conclusion, this pilot study showed that study breaks in green spaces improved wellbeing and cognitive performance of adolescents. It also found that larger green spaces, either parks or forests, have stronger positive impacts on wellbeing and cognitive performance than small parks.
学生的认知功能和学业成绩取决于课堂作业的规律休息。然而，目前尚不清楚在这些休息时间内，哪种环境最有利于恢复认知表现和促进青少年学生的健康。因此，我们研究了在课间休息时待在不同城市绿地中的效果。64 名学生（16-18 岁）参与了一项交叉实验。在午休期间，他们被安排在三个环境中的一个（小公园、大公园、森林）中待一个小时。在课间休息前后四次评估了学生的幸福感（Nitsch 量表），并在教室里进行了认知测试（d2-R 注意力测试）。在绿色空间逗留后，学生的幸福感几乎总是最高。然而，仅在森林中发现了持续的效果。d2-R 测试的注意力表现值在学生在绿地停留后均显著提高。在更大的公园类型中，表现提高的幅度最大。总之，这项初步研究表明，在绿地中进行学习休息可以提高青少年的幸福感和认知表现。它还发现，大的绿地，无论是公园还是森林，对幸福感和认知表现的积极影响都比小公园要强。
