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. 2016 Nov 23;2(6):366-372.
doi: 10.1192/bjpo.bp.115.002469. eCollection 2016 Nov.

Local availability of green and blue space and prevalence of common mental disorders in the Netherlands

Sjerp de Vries  1 , Margreet Ten Have  2 , Saskia van Dorsselaer  3 , Manja van Wezep  3 , Tia Hermans  4 , Ron de Graaf  2
Affiliations

Local availability of green and blue space and prevalence of common mental disorders in the Netherlands

Sjerp de Vries et al. BJPsych Open. .

Abstract

Background: Previous studies revealed a relationship between residential green space availability and health, especially mental health. Studies on blue space are scarcer and results less conclusive.

Aims: To investigate the hypotheses that green and blue space availability are negatively associated with anxiety and mood disorders, and positively associated with self-reported mental and general health.

Method: Health data were derived from a nationally representative survey (NEMESIS-2, n=6621), using a diagnostic interview to assess disorders. Green and blue space availability were expressed as percentages of the area within 1 km from one's home.

Results: The hypotheses were confirmed, except for green space and mood disorders. Associations were generally stronger for blue space than for green space, with ORs up to 0.74 for a 10%-point increase.

Conclusions: Despite the different survey design and health measures, the results largely replicate those of previous studies on green space. Blue space availability deserves more systematic attention.

Declaration of interest: None.

Copyright and usage: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

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