Residential Neighborhood/Area

Towe-Goodman and many colleagues investigated links between living near green spaces (for instance, forests, parks, residential yards) and mental health.  They learned via studying over 2000 children living in 41 US states that “greater residential green space exposure [from birth and within an area up to ¾ of a mile from home] was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms [for example, anxiety and depression] in early childhood but not in middle childhood. . . .

Martin and colleagues found that people sleep better in homes with more surrounding greenspace and bluespace. The researchers report that data collected via surveys in 18 countries from adults indicated that “nature visible from home (streetscape greenery, blue views) and recreational visits to green and blue spaces were each associated with less insufficient sleep [(<6 h vs. 7–10 h per day]. Significant nature-sleep associations were mediated, to varying degrees, by better mental wellbeing, but not self-reported physical activity.