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. 2020 May 14;17(10):3427.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103427.

Objective and Perceived Neighborhood Greenness of Students Differ in their Agreement in Home and Study Environments

Alexander Karl Ferdinand Loder  1 , Josef Gspurning  2 , Christoph Paier  3 , Mireille Nicoline Maria van Poppel  3
Affiliations

Objective and Perceived Neighborhood Greenness of Students Differ in their Agreement in Home and Study Environments

Alexander Karl Ferdinand Loder et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Research has reported the associations between objective or subjective neighborhood greenness and health, with low agreement between the greenness scores. College students are prone to poor health, and data are lacking on home and university environments. We studied the agreement between greenness parameters and the associations of objective greenness with health in different locations. Three hundred and seventy-seven college students were recruited, with a mean age of 24 years, in the city of Graz, Austria. Objective and perceived greenness was assessed at home and at university. Health measures included the WHO-5 questionnaire for mental health, the IPAQ questionnaire (short) for physical activity and sedentariness, and body mass index. Per location, quintile pairs of objective and perceived greenness were classified into underestimates, correct estimates or overestimates. Interrater reliability and correlation analyses revealed agreement between greenness scores at home but not at university. ANOVA models only showed poorer mental health for students underestimating greenness at university (M = 51.38, SD = 2.84) compared to those with correct estimates (M = 61.03, SD = 1.85). Agreement between greenness scores at home but not at university was obtained, and mental health was related to the perception of greenness at university. We conclude that reliable and corresponding methods for greenness scores need to be developed.

Keywords: Austria; built environment; environmental psychology; green space; natural environment; neighborhood greenness; public health; sedentariness.

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Conflict of interest statement

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean of perceived greenness scores per quintile of objective greenness at home.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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