Spending Time in Nature Serves as a Protective Factor against Problematic Alcohol Use: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Alcohol use in the U.S. continues to be a prevalent behavior with the potential for far-reaching personal and public health consequences. Risk factors for problematic drinking include negative affect and impulsive decision-making. Research suggests exposure to nature reduces negative affect, increases positive affect, and reduces impulsive choice. The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationships between exposure to nature (actively going out to nature and the level of greenness around the participant's daily life), affect, impulsive decision-making, and alcohol use, using structural equation modeling. Cross-sectional data (N = 340) collected online on Amazon MTurk were used to test the hypothesized relationships separately for alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Actively spending time in nature was associated with lower negative affect and higher positive affect, while passive exposure to nature was only associated with higher positive affect. In turn, negative affect was positively related to both alcohol measures, while positive affect was related to increased alcohol consumption, but not alcohol-related problems. Impulsive decision-making was not related to nature or alcohol measures. Findings suggest that intentionally spending time in nature may protect against problematic alcohol use by reducing negative affect. These results warrant further research on nature as an adjunct treatment for reducing alcohol and substance-related harms and carry implications for public education and increasing accessibility to natural spaces.

Keywords: affect; alcohol use; delay discounting; greenspace; nature exposure; substance use.

Figure 1

The hypothesized models. Alcohol consumption (model 1) and alcohol-related problems (model 2) regressed on negative affect, positive affect, and delay discounting, which in turn regressed on active exposure to nature and passive exposure to nature.

Figure 2

The relationships among nature, affect, delay discounting, and alcohol, controlling for age, gender, and income. All coefficients are standardized estimates with * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. The estimates in regular font are identical in both models, the italic font is unique for Model 1 (Alcohol Consumption), and the bolded font is unique for Model 2 (Alcohol-Related Problems). Bolded arrows represent the significant mediated effect of active exposure to nature on alcohol-related problems. Nonsignificant correlations among the residuals of positive affect, negative affect, and delay discounting were not reported for simplicity.