Understanding the Role of Spending Time in Nature for Children’s Wellbeing and Mental Health
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Children's Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (13 April 2023) | Viewed by 1935
Special Issue Editors
Interests: children’s social–emotional development; psychological benefits to spending time in nature; connection to nature
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Poor mental health is a global challenge, and this has intensified through the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase in mental health conditions, particularly in 6–16 year olds. Importantly, access to mental health services continues to be a challenge. It is important to better understand how positive wellbeing and mental health can be supported for this group of young people. Our aim is to understand how spending time outdoors benefits children’s health.
Researchers have found that there are physical and mental health benefits to spending time outdoors; yet, it has also been found that fewer children are spending time outdoors. This Special Issue focuses on enhancing our understanding of what it is about nature that impacts children’s wellbeing and mental health. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplinary backgrouds that inform the key aim of the Special Issue. Research papers may explore the role of, for example, connectedness to nature, outdoor learning, and outdoor play to wellbeing and mental health, or may assess key hypotheseses for why nature engagement has a beneficial impact on wellbeing and mental health.
Prof. Dr. Dawn Watling
Dr. Deborah J. Harvey
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- connectedness to nature
- outdoor science learning
- outdoor play
- wellbeing and mental health
- resilience
- psychological impact
- attention restoration
- biophilia hypothesis
- stress reduction
- social–cultural
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