Cumulative Greenspace Exposure on Young Adult’s Mental Health and SocioeconomicStatus Moderators
Summary
The environmental context in which a person lives serves as a background factor that can
trigger, reduce, or amplify the risk of suffering from a mental disorder. Poor mental health in
young people can lead to further health concerns like lower educational achievements, substance
abuse, and poor reproductive and sexual health. With more urbanisation on the rise, there is less
access to greenspaces. This serves as a problem when there is increasing research stating that
natural environments, like greenspaces, highly benefit a person’s mental wellbeing. This research
examines how proximity to greenspace during adolescence affects the mental health of young
adults. Moreover, we will be studying how socioeconomic status (SES) acts as a moderator for
mental health as the individual moves from their family SES at age 11 to their own SES at age 17
or 20. We found that more exposure to green vegetation is important to the mental well-being of
individuals. There was no moderating factor between childhood greenspace exposure and young
adult mental health across any level of SES–both parental and adolescence SES. Regardless of
the results from this analysis, greenspace still remains important to the well-being of individuals,
society and our planet. We should still continue to create policies and interventions toward
preserving greenspaces amid urbanisation.