Emma Rieves and Colleen Reid Publish New Findings on Greenspace Exposure and Mental Health
Studies consistently find that greenspace exposure is good for peoples’ mental health. Our recent work explores the relationship between perceived (survey-derived) and objective (aerial imagery-derived) greenspace exposure measures, and the relationship between each of these ways of operationalizing greenspace with mental health outcomes. We found that perceived and objective measures do not always align because they measure slightly different things. In general, objective measures represent greenspace abundance whereas perceived measures can also represent greenspace quality, access, and usage. Perceived greenspace measures are also influenced by aspects of peoples’ identities—like their environmental attitudes—in ways that objective exposures are not. We also found that perceived greenspace exposure was associated with reduced anxiety (and depression, with borderline significance) metrics while objective greenspace exposure was not. Overall, our work suggests that perceived and objective greenspace measures are not interchangeable, that the best way of operationalizing greenspace exposure in a study depends on the theoretical pathway between greenspace exposure and the health outcome at hand.
Emma Rieves is a PhD candidate in the Geography department. In the past, her work has explored the relationship between greenspace exposure and mental health, but she now primarily focuses on environmental epidemiology, spatial statistics, and environmental justice (EJ). In particular, her recent work explores the air quality, health, and EJ implications of vehicle electrification.
Citations:
Rieves, E. S., Freis, S. M., Friedman, N. P., & Reid, C. E. (2024). Is greenspace in the eye of the beholder? Exploring perceived and objective greenspace exposure effects on mental health. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102468.
Rieves, E. S., Reid, C. E., Carlson, K., & Li, X. (2024). Do environmental attitudes and personal characteristics influence how people perceive their exposure to green spaces?. Landscape and Urban Planning, 248, 105080.