Are actual and perceived environmental conditions associated with variation in mental health?
Sarah Gomm and Thomas Bernauer found in their research, that people don't perceive environmental stressors equally. Even low-level stressors can harm mental health, so policy interventions should consider individuals' subjective perception. The implication is that accessible green spaces can provide a sense of control and reduce negative impacts.
The correlation between environmental factors and mental health is still unclear based on the available empirical evidence, which is why Gomm and Bernauer investigated how subjective exposure to noise, air pollution, and green spaces affects mental health.
In their study they used a large representative sample of a survey with 5729 Swiss adults. The anonymyzed survey data was combined with objectively measured data about exposure to noise, air pollution and green spaces. In the analysis of multiple regression and mediation models, they discovered that individuals' perceptions of environmental stressors serve as a more reliable indicator of mental distress compared to stressors that are objectively measured. Furthermore, they observed that the ability of actual visits to natural environments to predict mental well-being is more robust than the ability of simply living in close proximity to green spaces. Their investigation did not reveal a direct correlation between environmental stressors and mental health, but rather a mediation effect through perceived environmental stressors. Additionally, they found that the relationship between the frequency of nature visits and mental health is mediated by perceived pollution, but not actual pollution.
The conclusion drawn from the study is that subjective perception of environmental stressors plays a critical role in evaluating policy interventions aimed at improving mental health, as not all individuals perceive actual stressors to be equally burdensome. This means that even relatively low levels of environmental stressors, which are considered non-harmful to human health in a physical or biological sense, can still lead to negative mental health outcomes. The primary policy implication is that having appealing and accessible green spaces can provide individuals with a greater sense of control over their exposure to environmental stressors, ultimately reducing the negative impacts on their mental health.