A team of researchers from McGill and Université de Montréal’s Observatoire pour l’éducation et la santé des enfants (OPES, or observatory on children’s health and eduation), led by Sylvana Côté, found that spending two hours a week of class time in a natural environment can reduce emotional distress among 10- to 12-year-olds who had the most significant mental health problems before the program began.
The research comes on the heels of the publication of a UNICEF report pointing to the importance of green space for children’s development.
The study published this week in JAMA Network Open, looked at the effects of spending time in nature on the behaviour and mental health symptoms of over 500 schoolchildren across Quebec in the spring of 2023.
The researchers found that at the end of a three-month period, teachers noted that the biggest changes in behaviour occurred in children with the most significant problems at the outset, including anxiety and depression, aggressivity and impulsivity, or social problems relating to interaction with their peers.
Interviews with the teachers following the intervention also suggested that children were more calm, relaxed and attentive in class after time spent in nature.
“We found that children with higher mental health symptoms at baseline showed greater reductions in symptoms following the intervention,” says senior author Marie-Claude Geoffroy, an associate professor in the McGill Department of Psychiatry, and the Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention at the Douglas Research Centre.
“This suggests that nature-based programs may offer targeted benefits for children with higher levels of mental health vulnerabilities and potentially act as an equalizer of mental health among school-age children,” added Sylvana Côté, one of the paper’s co-authors and a professor Université de Montréal’s school of public health and Canada Research Chair in the Prevention of Psychosocial and Educational Problems in Childhood.
Students from across Quebec and from a range of economic backgrounds
The research builds on earlier observational studies but is the first to use a randomized controlled trial to provide concrete information about the benefits to children of spending time in nature.
Including the members of the control group, approximately 1,000 children took part in the study. All were between the ages of 10 and 12 years and in grades five or six. They came from 33 different elementary schools in neighbourhoods representing a range of socioeconomic statuses and scattered around Quebec. All schools were within one kilometre of a park or green space. Half of the children stayed in school, while a similar number of children took part in the nature-based intervention.
“The idea for the project came up during the pandemic when people were worried about the health risks of children spending so much time inside the school each day,” said Geoffroy. “My kids and I spend lots of time in parks, so I’ve seen the benefits of spending time in nature, both for myself and for them. So, I thought maybe we can have a free and accessible intervention where school children can spend time in nature, and we can measure the effects this has on their mood and behaviour.”
To be able to measure changes in behaviour over the three-month period, students and teachers in the control group and the nature-intervention group were asked to fill out short questionnaires. These were designed to measure children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties, as well as their strengths.
Combining schooling with activities to promote mental health
During the two hours they spent in the park each week, teachers were asked to offer their regular classes in subjects such as math, languages or science. In addition, they were asked to incorporate a short 10-15-minute activity designed to promote mental health, with examples drawn from a teachers’ kit designed by the research team. The activities included things like drawing a tree or a mandala, writing haikus, mindful walking, talking about cycles of life and death in nature, and so on.
“Our results are particularly relevant for educators, policy-makers and mental health professionals seeking cost-effective and accessible ways to support vulnerable students,” added Tianna Loose, a post-doctoral fellow at Université de Montréal and the first author of the paper. “The intervention was low-cost, well-received and posed no risks, making it a promising strategy for schools with access to greenspaces.”
The researchers are hoping to follow up this study by working with teenagers to co-design an intervention in nature to improve well-being, reduce climate anxiety and increase connection to nature.
