Gomm Sarah, Bernauer Thomas
ETH Zurich, Environmental Politics and International Political Economy, Haldeneggsteig 4, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland.
Environ Res. 2023 Apr 15;223:115398. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115398. Epub 2023 Feb 3.
Empirical evidence on the relationship between environmental factors and mental health remains inconclusive. One reason is that there is only scant evidence on the association between mental health and subjective exposure to environmental stressors, relative to objective pollution. We thus focus on how the perceived and actual presence of noise, air pollution, and green spaces relates to mental health.
Our cross-sectional study is based on a large representative sample of the adult population in Switzerland (n = 5729). Using individual-level geocodes of subjects' residence, we combined data from a survey of these individuals with data on objectively measured longer-term environmental conditions (noise, air pollution, green spaces). Subclinical mental health was assessed with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). When fitting multiple regressions and mediation models, we find that perceptions of environmental stressors are a better predictor of mental distress than objectively measured stressors. In addition, the predictive power of actual nature visits is stronger than the predictive power of mere proximity to green spaces at the place of residence. We found no direct link between actual environmental stressors and mental health, but mediation via perceived environmental stressors. Further, the association between the frequency of nature visits and mental health is mediated by perceived, but not actual pollution.
Since actual environmental stressors are not perceived as equally burdensome by all people, their subjective perception is crucial when evaluating policy interventions aimed at improving mental health. Even a relatively low level of environmental stressors, classified as non-harmful to human health in a physical or biological sense, may thus contribute to negative mental health outcomes. The main policy implication is that attractive and accessible green spaces may provide individuals with an enhanced sense of control over their exposure to environmental stressors and thereby reduce negative impacts.
关于环境因素与心理健康之间关系的实证证据尚无定论。一个原因是，相对于客观污染，关于心理健康与主观暴露于环境压力源之间关联的证据很少。因此，我们关注噪声、空气污染和绿地的感知存在与实际存在如何与心理健康相关。
我们的横断面研究基于瑞士成年人口的大量代表性样本（n = 5729）。利用受试者居住地的个体层面地理编码，我们将这些个体的调查数据与客观测量的长期环境状况（噪声、空气污染、绿地）数据相结合。使用12项一般健康问卷（GHQ - 12）评估亚临床心理健康状况。在拟合多元回归和中介模型时，我们发现，与客观测量的压力源相比，对环境压力源的感知是心理困扰更好的预测指标。此外，实际去自然环境中的次数的预测能力比仅仅居住地点靠近绿地的预测能力更强。我们发现实际环境压力源与心理健康之间没有直接联系，而是通过感知到的环境压力源产生中介作用。此外，去自然环境中的次数与心理健康之间的关联是由感知到的而非实际的污染介导的。
由于并非所有人都将实际环境压力源视为同样沉重的负担，因此在评估旨在改善心理健康的政策干预措施时，其主观感知至关重要。因此，即使是相对较低水平的环境压力源，从物理或生物学角度分类为对人类健康无害，也可能导致负面的心理健康结果。主要的政策含义是，有吸引力且易于到达的绿地可能会让个人对其暴露于环境压力源的情况有更强的控制感，从而减少负面影响。
