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Place, Space 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 "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 16890

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Kalevantie 5, 33014 Tampere, Finland
Interests: environmental health; socio-economic determinants of health; natural environments; psychological well-being; physical activity; restorative environments
Department of Built Environment, School of Engineering, Aalto University, Otakaari 24, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Interests: environmental health; health geography; active living research; public participation GIS; participatory mapping; physical activity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global warming and urbanisation are major global trends that are shaping and changing where and how we live in the future. Regardless of where we live, multiple aspects of our living conditions—both environmental and societal—are subject to change. These changes inevitably have an impact on our mental health and well-being.

Our upcoming Special Issue titled “Place, space, and mental health” is all about the various ways in which our mental health is affected by our physical surroundings. Each of these key concepts can be thought of broadly. Place can refer to our homes or other meaningful places, to our living environments and their characteristics, or even to virtual places. A focus on space can reveal spatial processes that influence health in place on multiple scales, address health equity, and bridge other fields with urban planning and spatial decision-making. Mental health encompasses not only positive and negative continuums of mental health but also their key determinants, such as social relationships. We are also interested in more short-term psychological outcomes such as mood and restoration.

We are seeking contributions that integrate each of these three aspects empirically, theoretically, or by synthesising evidence from previous studies. We welcome contributions that use innovative methodologies for data collection and analysis to tackle current questions regarding the role of place and space in mental health.

Dr. Tytti Pasanen
Dr. Anna Kajosaari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mental well-being
  • mood
  • restorative environments
  • geospatial information systems (GIS)
  • urbanisation
  • green space
  • blue space
  • urban planning
  • housing conditions

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 261 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue: Place, Space, and Mental Health
by Tytti P. Pasanen and Anna Kajosaari
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 5055; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20065055 - 13 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1039
Abstract
Global megatrends, including climate change and urbanisation, are shaping and changing how we live in the future [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

12 pages, 700 KiB  
Article
Workplace Aesthetic Appreciation and Exhaustion in a COVID-19 Vaccination Center: The Role of Positive Affects and Interest in Art
by Fabrizio Scrima, Elena Foddai, Jean-Félix Hamel, Cindy Carrein-Lerouge, Olivier Codou, Benoit Montalan, Boris Vallée, Oulmann Zerhouni, Liliane Rioux and Pierenrico Marchesa
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14288; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192114288 - 01 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1611
Abstract
Background: Recently, workers employed in vaccination points around the world have been subjected to very high workloads to counter the progress of the COVID-19 epidemic. This workload has a negative effect on their well-being. Environmental psychology studies have shown how the physical characteristics [...] Read more.
Background: Recently, workers employed in vaccination points around the world have been subjected to very high workloads to counter the progress of the COVID-19 epidemic. This workload has a negative effect on their well-being. Environmental psychology studies have shown how the physical characteristics of the workplace environment can influence employees’ well-being. Furthermore, studies in the psychology of art show how art can improve the health of individuals. Objectives: The aim of this research was to test a moderated mediation model to verify how appreciation of workplace aesthetics can impact the level of exhaustion of staff working in a vaccination center, the mediating role of positive and negative affects, and the moderating role of interest in art. Methods: Data were collected from a sample of 274 workers (physicians, nurses, reception, and administrative staff) working in the same vaccination center in Italy. Participants answered a self-report questionnaire during a rest break. We used a cross-sectional design. Results: The results show that appreciation of workplace aesthetics impacts employees’ level of exhaustion. This relationship is mediated by positive and negative affects, and interest in art moderates the relationship between positive affects and exhaustion. Conclusions: These findings indicate the central role of workplace aesthetics in influencing healthcare workers’ well-being, and how interest in art can reduce exhaustion levels. Practical implications of the results are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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20 pages, 3864 KiB  
Article
Emotional-Health-Oriented Urban Design: A Novel Collaborative Deep Learning Framework for Real-Time Landscape Assessment by Integrating Facial Expression Recognition and Pixel-Level Semantic Segmentation
by Xuan Zhang, Haoying Han, Lin Qiao, Jingwei Zhuang, Ziming Ren, Yang Su and Yiping Xia
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13308; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192013308 - 15 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2212
Abstract
Emotional responses are significant for understanding public perceptions of urban green space (UGS) and can be used to inform proposals for optimal urban design strategies to enhance public emotional health in the times of COVID-19. However, most empirical studies fail to consider emotion-oriented [...] Read more.
Emotional responses are significant for understanding public perceptions of urban green space (UGS) and can be used to inform proposals for optimal urban design strategies to enhance public emotional health in the times of COVID-19. However, most empirical studies fail to consider emotion-oriented landscape assessments under dynamic perspectives despite the fact that individually observed sceneries alter with angle. To close this gap, a real-time sentimental-based landscape assessment framework is developed, integrating facial expression recognition with semantic segmentation of changing landscapes. Furthermore, a case study using panoramic videos converted from Google Street View images to simulate changing scenes was used to test the viability of this framework, resulting in five million big data points. The result of this study shows that through the collaboration of deep learning algorithms, finer visual variables were classified, subtle emotional responses were tracked, and better regression results for valence and arousal were obtained. Among all the predictors, the proportion of grass was the most significant predictor for emotional perception. The proposed framework is adaptable and human-centric, and it enables the instantaneous emotional perception of the built environment by the general public as a feedback survey tool to aid urban planners in creating UGS that promote emotional well-being. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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16 pages, 4233 KiB  
Article
Effects of the Visual Character of Transitional Spaces on Human Stress Recovery in a Virtual Reality Environment
by Zhixian Li, Xiaoran Huang and Marcus White
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13143; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192013143 - 12 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2795
Abstract
As people’s levels of stress increase with the complexity of contemporary urban life, the stress healing agenda in built environments has become more critical than ever. Previous research has demonstrated that linear and nonlinear shapes in the environment have an impact on human [...] Read more.
As people’s levels of stress increase with the complexity of contemporary urban life, the stress healing agenda in built environments has become more critical than ever. Previous research has demonstrated that linear and nonlinear shapes in the environment have an impact on human stress recovery. However, to date, most studies have focused on indoor and outdoor spaces, while research on transitional spaces is still limited. Transitional spaces connect the interior with the exterior and are ubiquitous in the city, such as plazas, open cafes, and urban corridors. We hypothesize that curved and linear environments affect human stress recovery differently in transitional spaces. To test this hypothesis, virtual reality (VR) technology and experiments were conducted with 40 participants. At the end of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), participants were randomly assigned to four VR environments to test which environment is more effective in stress recovery for humans. Participants’ physiological data, including heart rate and blood pressure, were measured by bio-monitoring sensors. The psychological data were tested by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). In general, the resulting data indicate that the curved environment is more effective than the linear environment for the recovery of human stress in transitional spaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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14 pages, 1511 KiB  
Article
Exposure to Green and Historic Urban Environments and Mental Well-Being: Results from EEG and Psychometric Outcome Measures
by Rebecca Reece, Anna Bornioli, Isabelle Bray and Chris Alford
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13052; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192013052 - 11 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1837
Abstract
Previous studies have identified the benefits of exposure to green or historic environments using qualitative methods and psychometric measures, but studies using a combination of measures are lacking. This study builds on current literature by focusing specifically on green and historic urban environments [...] Read more.
Previous studies have identified the benefits of exposure to green or historic environments using qualitative methods and psychometric measures, but studies using a combination of measures are lacking. This study builds on current literature by focusing specifically on green and historic urban environments and using both psychological and physiological measures to investigate the impact of virtual exposure on well-being. Results from the psychological measures showed that the presence of historic elements was associated with a significantly stronger recuperation of hedonic tone (p = 0.01) and reduction in stress (p = 0.04). However, the presence of greenness had no significant effect on hedonic tone or stress. In contrast, physiological measures (EEG) showed significantly lower levels of alpha activity (p < 0.001) in occipital regions of the brain when participants viewed green environments, reflecting increased engagement and visual attention. In conclusion, this study has added to the literature by showing the impact that historic environments can have on well-being, as well as highlighting a lack of concordance between psychological and physiological measures. This supports the use of a combination of subjective and direct objective measures in future research in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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15 pages, 4971 KiB  
Article
A Qualitative Assessment of Place and Mental Health: Perspectives of Young Women Ages 18–24 Living in the Urban Slums of Kampala, Uganda
by Monica H. Swahn, Jacqueline Nassaka, Anna Nabulya, Jane Palmier and Seneca Vaught
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12935; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph191912935 - 10 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2198
Abstract
This paper examines the link between place and mental health using a qualitative assessment and focus group discussion with young women, ages 18 to 24 years of age, residing in three slums in Kampala, Uganda. The assessment, conducted in August of 2022, engaged [...] Read more.
This paper examines the link between place and mental health using a qualitative assessment and focus group discussion with young women, ages 18 to 24 years of age, residing in three slums in Kampala, Uganda. The assessment, conducted in August of 2022, engaged 15 women who participated in Uganda Youth Development Drop-in center activities. The objective was to assess mental health and the link between place and mental health. Facilitated group discussions and photograph review yielded the following results. In terms of understanding their views of mental health and wellbeing, participants clearly focused on feelings. However, they also assessed resilience, the environment and a person’s choice as relating to their mental health. Participants also found the physical spaces related to sports, education, worship, workplaces and green space to be linked to happiness. In terms of the attributes that were linked to sadness, participants listed the physical locations where drugs are sold, clubs for dancing and partying and also sanitation issues in the community. Participants frequently reported on the social environment and reflected on harassment, discrimination, alcohol use and criminal behavior that did not reflect a specific physical space, but rather the embedded social interactions they may face or observe by living in close proximity to hotspots for criminal activity. Given the dire shortages of mental health services and care that are available in this setting, a better understanding of young women’s perceptions of place and mental health will be key for low-cost interventions and strategies to mitigate the contextual factors that may exacerbate mental illness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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10 pages, 836 KiB  
Article
Why They Stayed and Why They Left—A Case Study from Ellicott City, MD after Flash Flooding
by Alisha Yee Chan, Kate Burrows and Michelle L. Bell
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10636; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph191710636 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1790
Abstract
Ellicott City, MD was devasted by flash flooding in 2016 and 2018. A lack of qualitative research has been conducted on topics related to sense of place and flash flooding, especially in the United States. In this study, we reveal reasons why some [...] Read more.
Ellicott City, MD was devasted by flash flooding in 2016 and 2018. A lack of qualitative research has been conducted on topics related to sense of place and flash flooding, especially in the United States. In this study, we reveal reasons why some who experienced flash flooding continued to stay the flood zone and why some leave. We utilized a phenomenological approach to answer these research questions. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 19 participants from the Historic District and adjacent neighborhoods in Ellicott City. The most common reasons participants stayed were: (1) Community Impact, (2) Historical Land, and (3) Financial Burden. The most common reasons participants left were: (1) Emotional Exhaustion and Frustration, (2) Fear/Anxiety, and (3) Financial Burden. The results of our study indicate that reasons individuals who experience flash flooding stay, or leave may include community/historical, environmental, emotional, and economic factors. This reveals the complexity of relocation and sense of place after natural/environmental disasters and supports previous literature that suggests tailored response efforts based on these unique set of burdens. This paper aims to identify burdens and understand flood victims’ decisions to help policy makers improve flood response efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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22 pages, 4715 KiB  
Article
Landscape Perception and the Importance of Recreation Areas for Students during the Pandemic Time
by Sebastian Bernat, Karolina Trykacz and Jakub Skibiński
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 9837; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19169837 - 10 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2104
Abstract
The landscape and its perception influence the quality of life of a local community. Recreation areas bring a lot of benefits to society, also in terms of mental health. Open space and contact with nature, particularly during a crisis such as the pandemic, [...] Read more.
The landscape and its perception influence the quality of life of a local community. Recreation areas bring a lot of benefits to society, also in terms of mental health. Open space and contact with nature, particularly during a crisis such as the pandemic, help alleviate the effects of the lockdown and social isolation. The study objective was to determine whether and to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the importance of recreation areas and the perception of landscape among students—a social group that experiences mood disorders increasingly often and has been severely affected by the lockdown. A survey was conducted in two stages, using a Google Forms online survey. A total of 381 students from universities in Lublin participated in the survey. The survey showed that the significance of recreation areas increased during the pandemic. The perception of landscape changed as well: the value of nature, scenic views, and the therapeutic effect of the landscape began to be appreciated to a greater extent. The survey results indicate the need to ensure the diversity of green areas and improve their accessibility. Designing these areas should also consider quiet areas as well as ensuring green mobility and places of recreation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place, Space and Mental Health)
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