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http://dx.doi.org/10.14578/jkfs.2011.100.3.4

Psychological Effects of Walking in the Urban Forest: Results of Field Tests in Shinjuku-gyoen, Japan  

Song, Cho Rong (Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University)
Lee, Ju Young (Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University)
Park, Bum Jin (Department of Environment & Forest Resources, Chungnam National University)
Lee, Min Sun (Department of Horticultural Science, Chungnam National University)
Matsuba, Naoya (Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University)
Miyazaki, Yoshifumi (Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University)
Publication Information
Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science / v.100, no.3, 2011 , pp. 344-351 More about this Journal
Abstract
The aim of this study is to clarify the psychological effects of walking in the urban forest and to examine how the effects differ in accordance with individual personality. The study subjects comprised 18 male Japanese university students ($21.0{\pm}0.8$ years old). These subjects were instructed to walk predetermined 20-min courses in the urban forest and the city (control). Three questionnaires (POMS, STAI-S, and SCL-90) were administered to assess the subjects' psychological responses. The KG's Daily Life Questionnaire was used to examine the subject's personalities for presence of the Type A behavior pattern. The study found that walking in the urban forest improved the participants' positive mood and decreased their negative mood, anxiety, and other negative mental symptoms. Moreover, Type B subjects showed a bigger change than Type A subjects on the SCL-90's obsessive and compulsive scale. Our results supported the premise that walking in the urban forest has relaxing effects, and that these effects can differ in accordance with the subject's personality characteristics.
Keywords
nature therapy; urban green space; walking; POMS; STAI; SCL-90; psychological relaxation; personality; type A behavior pattern;
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