School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2024 May;16(2):515-536. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12502. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
Human well-being is dependent on the health of our planet. Biodiversity-related citizen science supports conservation research, and there is increasing interest in its potential as a health co-benefits intervention. This randomized controlled study investigates the health co-benefits of biodiversity citizen science participation. Seventy participants were randomly assigned to a citizen science project or control group for an 8-month period. Both groups completed pre- and post-intervention surveys, evaluating nature relatedness, self-efficacy related to biodiversity loss, subjective well-being, and climate change anxiety. A subset (N = 13) of participants engaged in the citizen science project also took part in focus group discussions. The intervention group reported a significant increase in nature relatedness and self-efficacy to help address issues of biodiversity loss. Although no significant changes were observed for other well-being or anxiety scales, most participants reported positive outcomes related to mental or physical well-being in focus groups. There were stronger positive effects for participants without previous environmental volunteering experience. These results suggest that citizen science participation has the potential to contribute to Planetary Health goals, with sustained co-benefits for well-being and nature relatedness. Future interventions evaluating co-benefits should consider previous environmental volunteering experience and focus on participants with little experience to maximize health outcomes.
人类福祉取决于我们星球的健康。与生物多样性相关的公民科学为保护研究提供了支持，并且人们越来越关注其作为健康共同效益干预措施的潜力。本随机对照研究调查了参与生物多样性公民科学的健康共同效益。70 名参与者被随机分配到公民科学项目组或对照组，进行为期 8 个月的研究。两组都在干预前和干预后完成了调查，评估与自然的关联性、与生物多样性丧失相关的自我效能感、主观幸福感和气候变化焦虑感。参与公民科学项目的一小部分（N=13）参与者还参加了焦点小组讨论。干预组报告称，他们与自然的关联性和帮助解决生物多样性丧失问题的自我效能感显著增强。尽管其他幸福感或焦虑量表没有观察到显著变化，但大多数参与者在焦点小组中报告了与心理健康或身体健康相关的积极结果。对于没有先前环境志愿服务经验的参与者，效果更为明显。这些结果表明，公民科学参与有可能为地球健康目标做出贡献，对幸福感和与自然的关联性产生持续的共同效益。未来评估共同效益的干预措施应考虑先前的环境志愿服务经验，并关注经验较少的参与者，以最大限度地提高健康结果。
