Community gardening: stress, well-being and resilience potentials

Koay, Way Inn, and Dillon, Denise (2020) Community gardening: stress, well-being and resilience potentials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (18). 6740.

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Abstract

The financial and health burdens of stress associated with increased urbanisation have led to a demand for mental health enhancement strategies. While some extant literature details mental health benefits of community gardening, a coherent narrative on the construct of resilience and its relationship with the mental health benefits of community gardening is lacking. The present study examined the relationship between community gardening and a number of mental health benefits, in the forms of subjective well-being, stress, resilience potentials, and resilience factors (self-esteem, optimism and openness). 111 residents in Singapore completed a survey. Results from MANCOVA and Pearson’s correlation analyses show that, after controlling for age and levels of connection to nature, community gardeners reported significantly higher levels of subjective well-being than individual/home gardeners and non-gardeners, indicating that engagement in community gardening may be superior to individual/home gardening or non-gardening outdoor activities. Community gardeners reported higher levels of resilience and optimism than the non-gardening control group. These novel results indicate some potential for mental health benefits in urban environments, specifically in terms of subjective well-being and resilience. These findings have implications for future research in clinical psychology, mental health promotion and policy.

Item ID: 64345
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1660-4601
Keywords: community gardening; contact with nature; connection to nature; mental health promotion; well-being; stress; resilience; self-esteem; optimism; openness
Copyright Information: © 2020 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited: 21 Sep 2020 21:55
FoR Codes: 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920407 Health Protection and/or Disaster Response @ 50%
92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920201 Allied Health Therapies (excl. Mental Health Services) @ 50%
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