Nature’s Impact: Spotlight on Youth Mental Health
42% of high school students in the U.S. report feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their Youth Risk Assessment Survey noted a steady increase in these feelings— as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors—between 2011 and 2021. And then, COVID happened.
School closures and social isolation exacerbated the mental health issue in adolescents during the pandemic, but a hyper-awareness of the world’s problems lingered long after they went back to school. That, combined with an increase in social media use, has contributed to what many are calling a youth mental health crisis.
It is an issue without geopolitical or socioeconomic boundaries. Harvard Medical School and the University of Queensland teamed up to survey 150,000 people of varying wealth from 29 countries. Their research showed that one out of every two people in the world will develop a mental health disorder in their lifetime, with the peak of onset at 15 years old.
The researchers behind the study said more attention needs to be paid to understanding why these disorders develop, as well as implementing interventions especially designed to support young people.
A growing body of research has shown that one such solution is literally in our backyards. In a 2019 study, researchers called nature an “affordable, upstream health promotion intervention”, highlighting a strong correlation between exposure to nature as a young person and lifelong mental health.
The literature review analyzed 84 studies on the impacts of immersive nature experiences for adolescents and children, and found a range of clear benefits including self-esteem, self-efficacy, resilience, and academic and cognitive performance.
Brain science
The cause of youth onset of mental illness and the reason nature offers such an effective intervention starts in the same place: the human brain.
Most parents can give copious anecdotal evidence supporting the fact that the brain is not fully developed until around the age of 25. It develops from the back, where emotion is processed, to the front, where logic rules. This imbalance between emotion and logic centers can cause mood swings, impulsiveness, frustration, and poor judgment.
Therefore, any environments that can help young people recover their cognitive and emotional resources are crucial to overall mental health. This is especially true after exercising the directed attention needed to learn grammar, take an algebra test, or follow parental instructions.
According to Attention Restoration Theory, restorative environments should evoke “soft fascination”, like a sunset or ocean waves, in order to give the brain a break from the fatigue of directed attention.
Social media or screens of any kind would be categorized as “hard fascination”, requiring directed attention to overcome stimulation and leaving few resources for reflective thought.
So even though kids might think they are unwinding by scrolling through their social media feed, they are actually doing the opposite.
A 2023 study concedes that, while there is a correlation between depression and social media use, the effects are complex and varied. But one thing is clear, the more time young people spend on their screens, the less time they are spending in nature. And that has a direct effect on mental health.
Andrea Faber Taylor, a researcher at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, studies the impact that landscapes can have on young people. She says screen time is one of the biggest barriers to getting adolescents in outdoor settings. “If they’re doing more screen time, they’re not going outside as much…and their experiences are more screen-based instead of real-world based,” she says.
Outdoor educator Gail Keech says she has noted a marked increase in social media use amongst her students, as well as a marked decrease in overall mental health. “There is definitely a link between screens and unhappiness, and between disconnection from nature and unhappiness,” she says.
Nature’s impact
Scientific evidence shows that nature benefits youth at many stages of their development. A study of 11-year-olds in the U.K. showed that those who spent time in outdoor, rather than indoor, education settings were better able to restore poor mood and reflect on their personal goals. In another study of 16 to 21-year-olds, exposure to woodlands was shown to reduce stress and anxiety.
The sensory effects of forest environments, in particular, are well-documented. Dr. Qing Li is a leading expert on the subject and a passionate advocate of forests for public health. His research is summarized in his book Forest Bathing, which explains that forest immersion works on all five senses:
1. Sense of sight: forest landscapes and colors
2. Sense of smell: fragrance from trees and soil
3. Sense of hearing: forest sounds, bird song
4. Sense of touch: touching trees and natural materials
5. Sense of taste: eating forest fruits, taking in fresh air
These sensory experiences reduce stress hormones, suppress the fight or flight system, and enhance the parasympathetic or “rest and recover” system. The result? Feelings of relaxation, a reduction of negative emotions, an increase in positive emotions, and a renewal of stress management resources.
Li’s studies with youth populations have shown that walking in city parks can reduce negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion, and improve positive feelings such as vigor. “Contact with nature by practicing forest therapy can help the psychological development of adolescents, and support their mental health,” he says.
Nature experiences not only allow for crucial attention restoration for the brain and sensory stress-relief, but they also provide a platform to learn about yourself and test yourself with low-level risk, says Faber Taylor.
Keech has observed the same impacts in the field. “With time in nature, they realize just how capable they are,” she says. “They feel they are overcoming adversity all the time because there’s a mountain to climb.”
Conclusion
The data around the growing youth mental health crisis is powerful, and so is the data illustrating nature as an affordable intervention with pervasive effects—research shows that developing a relationship with nature in adolescence lays the foundation for lifelong mental health.
Laying that foundation means giving youth regular, real-world experiences in natural settings, and that requires consistent access to green spaces. Says Faber-Taylor, “Green spaces are not just an accessory or a nicety. It’s not icing on the cake, it’s a necessity. You have to have it if you want young people to do well and be their best.”
Sources
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Duell, N. and Steinberg, L. (2020) Differential correlates of positive and negative risk taking in
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Li, Q., Forest Bathing. (2018). Penguin Random House.
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Half of World’s Population Will Experience a Mental Health Disorder, Half of World’s Population Will Experience a Mental Health Disorder | Harvard Medical School
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Johanna Sorrentino is a writer and content strategist specializing in health, science, and education. You can read more of her work and connect with her on LinkedIn.