GoGreenEx

Going Outdoors Gathering research evidence on environment and Exercise

Overview and Objectives

This community based interdisciplinary intervention aimed to promote positive mental health through contact with the natural environment. This research was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, who investigated both the potential of “green” (being outdoors in the natural environment) and “blue” (i.e in, on, under, or near water) spaces to promote physical activity, positive mental health and wellbeing, as well as evaluated the potential mechanisms underlying these effects.

Mental health among young people is not simply the societal challenge of today, it is the psychosocial and economic burden of tomorrow. Preventative approaches do more than provide a means of mitigating potential future costs, they offer a pathway to mental well-being for a generation. Seventy-five percent of psychological disorders emerge between the ages of 15-25, but only a small proportion typically seek treatment. The consequences of mental health stigma include service aversion and exacerbating symptoms due to stereotyping. One preventative approach which is relatively stigma free is the use of exercise-based interventions. Exercise as a treatment for depression is comparable to the standardised treatments (e.g., psychotherapy) in terms of efficacy and it provides a buffering effect reducing the probability of depression.

GO GREEN EX aimed to develop a preventative intervention that combined exercise with active engagement with the natural environment, augmented by online psychological literacy training tool, to promote mental health, well-being and resilience amongst physically active youth and young adults (aged 16-24 yrs.).

The objectives of the project were:

To explore end-user needs and stakeholder input how young people engage in green exercise and thereby integrate impact into the research, including their digital social interactions, crowd-sourced from social media.
To elucidate the biological, physiological, neurophysiological, cognitive and environmental mechanisms underlying the potential ergogenic effects of green exercise.
To evaluate both the positive and negative effects of the natural environment on mental well-being and health.
To develop, refine and optimise an evidence-based green exercise intervention to enhance mental well-being, resilience and mental health in young people (WP6) and via partnerships, embed effective interventions in their daily habits.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention across a range of youth samples across Europe.
To conduct an economic analysis and environmental assessment of GE effects including any negative effects on well-being.

Activities/Outputs

GO GREEN-EX employed a novel approach to well-being by using green exercise (a term used to describe physical activity in natural environments) to promote mental health with participants (age 16-24 yrs.) who range from the minimally active in sports clubs, through to the highly active engaged in collegiate sport (e.g., dual-career), training in sport institutes and in professional sport. Green exercise has been found to lead to enhanced mood, cognitive function and concern for nature compared to exercise other settings. GO GREEN EX coupled an exercise intervention not merely with exposure to a natural environment but with active engagement. The exercise component with online training in psychological literacy (e.g., recognising the emotions and how to regulate them) and included a savouring during the exercise intervention (e.g., taking notice of natural stimuli). GO GREEN EX identified the biological, psychophysiological, neurophysiological, cognitive and environmental mechanisms underlying the GE effects and developed a user-informed intervention.

Impact

Mental Well-Being: The impact of resilience and wellbeing was assessed in terms of variables associated not just with decreasing negative psychological and physical functioning in the face of stress and adversity but also increasing positive functioning and well-being in everyday life. We found reductions in anxiety and depression, and increased problem-solving ability, self-efficacy, psychological flexibility, optimism, and self-regulation. The mechanisms whereby physical fitness promotes increased resilience and well-being and positive psychological and physical health are diverse and complex.

Environmental Knowledge and Engagement: In 2001, the WHO stated that environments have a crucial role in promoting sport and physical activity, since it is mainly in the local setting that the opportunities to be physically active are provided. GO GREEN EX’s transdisciplinary research findings were at the interface of the dual challenge of enhancing well-being and sustainable environment.

Evidence base for mental well-being promotion programmes in Europe: The innovative interventions of GO GREEN EX, created a strong evidence base for mental well-being assessment contributing to elucidate the mechanistic links between environmental exposure, physical exercise and mental illness. GO GREEN EX signalled an alternative preventative strategy, not only coupling sport and exercise, but focusing on well-being rather than mental health (i.e., stigamtised term).

Environment Policy in Ecosystem Benefits for Health: The research measured societal attitudes towards the environment and contributed to actions to protect and sustain biodiversity and ecological systems and as a result encourage pro-environmental behaviour. The work resulted in an evidence basis of unprecedented strength on the links between GE and the environment given that the biological and physiological basis explaining this association were elucidated.

Partners

ICEP Europe worked in collaboration with Clarisford Park, University of Limerick, Mental Health Ireland, and the University of Wolverhampton, amongst others, on GoGreenEX.