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- Dzhambov, Angel, et al.
(författare)
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Urban residential greenspace and mental health in youth : Different approaches to testing multiple pathways yield different conclusions
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 160, s. 47-59
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Urban greenspace can benefit mental health through multiple mechanisms. They may work together, but previous studies have treated them as independent.Objectives: We aimed to compare single and parallel mediation models, which estimate the independent contributions of different paths, to several models that posit serial mediation components in the pathway from greenspace to mental health.Methods: We collected cross-sectional survey data from 399 participants (15-25 years of age) in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Objective "exposure" to urban residential greenspace was defined by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index, tree cover density within the 500-m buffer, and Euclidean distance to the nearest urban greenspace. Self-reported measures of availability, access, quality, and usage of greenspace were also used. Mental health was measured with the General Health Questionnaire. The following potential mediators were considered in single and parallel mediation models: restorative quality of the neighborhood, neighborhood social cohesion, commuting and leisure time physical activity, road traffic noise annoyance, and perceived air pollution. Four models were tested with the following serial mediation components: (1) restorative quality -> social cohesion; (2) restorative quality -> physical activity; (3) perceived traffic pollution -> restorative quality; (4) and noise annoyance -> physical activity.Results: There was no direct association between objectively-measured greenspace and mental health. For the 500-m buffer, the tests of the single mediator models suggested that restorative quality mediated the relationship between NDVI and mental health. Tests of parallel mediation models did not find any significant indirect effects. In line with theory, tests of the serial mediation models showed that higher restorative quality was associated with more physical activity and more social cohesion, and in turn with better mental health. As for self-reported greenspace measures, single mediation through restorative quality was significant only for time in greenspace, and there was no mediation though restorative quality in the parallel mediation models; however, serial mediation through restorative quality and social cohesion/physical activity was indicated for all self-reported measures except for greenspace quality.Conclusions: Statistical models should adequately address the theoretically indicated interdependencies between mechanisms underlying association between greenspace and mental health. If such causal relationships hold, testing mediators alone or in parallel may lead to incorrect inferences about the relative contribution of specific paths, and thus to inappropriate intervention strategies.
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| 2. |
- Markevych, Iana, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health : theoretical and methodological guidance
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 158, s. 301-317
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In a rapidly urbanizing world, many people have little contact with natural environments, which may affect health and well-being. Existing reviews generally conclude that residential greenspace is beneficial to health. However, the processes generating these benefits and how they can be best promoted remain unclear.Objectives: During an Expert Workshop held in September 2016, the evidence linking greenspace and health was reviewed from a transdisciplinary standpoint, with a particular focus on potential underlying biopsychosocial pathways and how these can be explored and organized to support policy-relevant population health research.Discussions: Potential pathways linking greenspace to health are here presented in three domains, which emphasize three general functions of greenspace: reducing harm (e.g. reducing exposure to air pollution, noise and heat), restoring capacities (e.g. attention restoration and physiological stress recovery) and building capacities (e.g. encouraging physical activity and facilitating social cohesion). Interrelations between among the three domains are also noted. Among several recommendations, future studies should: use greenspace and behavioural measures that are relevant to hypothesized pathways; include assessment of presence, access and use of greenspace; use longitudinal, interventional and (quasi)experimental study designs to assess causation; and include low and middle income countries given their absence in the existing literature. Cultural, climatic, geographic and other contextual factors also need further consideration.Conclusions: While the existing evidence affirms beneficial impacts of greenspace on health, much remains to be learned about the specific pathways and functional form of such relationships, and how these may vary by context, population groups and health outcomes. This Report provides guidance for further epidemiological research with the goal of creating new evidence upon which to develop policy recommendations.
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| 3. |
- Xu, Shanshan, et al.
(författare)
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Associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and greenness with incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Northern Europe : The Life-GAP project
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research. - : Elsevier. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 257
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundProlonged exposure to air pollution has been linked to adverse respiratory health, yet the evidence concerning its association with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is inconsistent. The evidence of a greenness effect on chronic respiratory diseases is limited.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and greenness (as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index - NDVI) and incidence of self-reported chronic bronchitis or COPD (CB/COPD).MethodsWe analyzed data from 5355 adults from 7 centers participating in the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) study. Mean exposures to air pollution and greenness were assessed at available residential addresses in 1990, 2000 and 2010 using air dispersion models and satellite data, respectively. Poisson regression with log person-time as an offset was employed to analyze the association between air pollution, greenness, and CB/COPD incidence, adjusting for confounders.ResultsOverall, there were 328 incident cases of CB/COPD during 2010–2023. Despite wide statistical uncertainty, we found a trend for a positive association between NO2 exposure and CB/COPD incidence, with incidence rate ratios (IRRs) per 10 μg/m³ difference ranging between 1.13 (95% CI: 0.90–1.41) in 1990 and 1.18 (95% CI: 0.96–1.45) in 2000. O3 showed a tendency for inverse association with CB/COPD incidence (IRR from 0.84 (95% CI: 0.66–1.07) in 2000 to 0.88 (95% CI: 0.69–1.14) in 2010. No consistent association was found between PM, BC and greenness with CB/COPD incidence across different exposure time windows.ConclusionConsistent with prior research, our study suggests that individuals exposed to higher concentrations of NO2 may face an elevated risk of developing COPD, although evidence remains inconclusive. Greenness was not associated with CB/COPD incidence, while O3 showed a tendency for an inverse association with the outcome.
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