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. 2024 Oct 10:15:1396548.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1396548. eCollection 2024.

Estimation of mediators in the associations between campus green spaces and students' anxiety: a case study in Nanjing

Wanting Diao #  1 , Silei Li #  1 , Bing Zhao  1 , Fan Zhang  1
Affiliations

Estimation of mediators in the associations between campus green spaces and students' anxiety: a case study in Nanjing

Wanting Diao et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Although a number of scholars have examined the theoretical pathways between green space (GS) and mental health, few have focused on how campus greenness affects the mental health of Chinese youth.

Methods: Herein, two objective indicators, campus and individual 300-m normalized vegetation index (NDVI) data, were used as independent variables. A questionnaire was used to collect the self-rated anxiety level of students on campuses in Nanjing. Then, we chose "subjective perception of campus GS", "physical activity", "social cohesion", "nature relatedness" and "usage pattern" as mediating variables to explore the pathways between the campus greenery and college student' anxiety level through correlation analysis, linear regression, and mediation effect test.

Results: Results showed the campus-wide NDVI and individual students' 300-m range NDVI had significant negative correlations with anxiety (p = 0.045, p = 0.023). Campus perception, nature relatedness and the frequency of using GS are the pathways through which campus GSs influence student anxiety.

Discussion: Our findings emphasised the importance of subjective perceptions of greenspaces, which provided a direction that can be deepened in future research.

Keywords: NDVI; anxiety; campus green space; mental health; pathways.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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