Bettmann Joanna Ellen, Speelman Elizabeth, Jolley Annelise, Casucci Tallie
University of Utah College of Social Work, 395 South 1500 East, Room 101, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Department of Outdoor Education, Georgia College & State University, Campus Box 125, Milledgeville, GA 31061, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Jan 31;15(2):153. doi: 10.3390/bs15020153.
Time spent in nature leads to significant physical and mental benefits, but research is mixed on how much time in nature is necessary to affect change in adults' mental health. This meta-analysis aimed to answer the question: what effect does length and interval of nature dosage have on adults with mental illness? The authors defined nature exposure as an experience in nature lasting at least 10 minutes and taking place in an actual natural setting. Because some studies indicated single experiences of exposure to nature () while others utilized multiple exposures to nature (), these studies were separated to determine differences between one-time versus interval exposure to nature. Following and PRISMA reporting guidelines, this review included 78 studies published between 1990 and 2020. The present study found that one-time and interval nature exposure yielded different results for adults with a diagnosed mental illness and adults with symptoms of mental illness. Notably, shorter nature exposure delivered in intervals appeared to show positive significant effects, even more than one-time exposure. This finding has important implications for public health and green space preservation, as being outside for as little as 10 minutes and even in urban nature can improve adults' mental health.
花时间置身于大自然会给身心带来显著益处，但关于需要在大自然中花费多少时间才能对成年人的心理健康产生影响，研究结果不一。这项荟萃分析旨在回答以下问题：大自然疗法的时长和间隔对患有精神疾病的成年人有何影响？作者将接触大自然定义为在实际自然环境中持续至少10分钟的体验。由于一些研究表明是单次接触大自然的经历，而其他研究则采用多次接触大自然的方式，因此将这些研究分开，以确定一次性接触大自然与间歇性接触大自然之间的差异。遵循[具体指南名称]和PRISMA报告指南，本综述纳入了1990年至2020年间发表的78项研究。本研究发现，一次性和间歇性接触大自然对已确诊患有精神疾病的成年人和有精神疾病症状的成年人产生了不同的结果。值得注意的是，间歇性的较短时间接触大自然似乎显示出积极的显著效果，甚至比一次性接触更明显。这一发现对公共卫生和绿地保护具有重要意义，因为即使在城市自然环境中，只需外出10分钟就能改善成年人的心理健康。
