Understanding the relationship between greenspace and cognitive health: the role of social connection
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Abstract
Greenspace exposure has been shown to have benefits on overall health, especially in psychological well-being. However, only a handful of studies have investigated potential mechanisms driving these benefits in the general population, and even less in disadvantaged populations. In this dissertation, I focused specifically on the association between greenspace and cognition, and explored the indirect role social connection might play in this relationship. In Study 1, a sample of older adults, findings suggested that more residential greenspace was associated with better scores on tests of processing speed, intelligence, and memory. An increase in loneliness was associated with worse performance on global cognition, processing speed, and intelligence, while isolation was associated with worse performance on processing speed and intelligence. Furthermore, greenspace was significantly associated with being lonely but not isolated. In Study 2, I explored associations between greenspace, social connection, and cognition in a sample of people with serious mental illness. Less isolation and loneliness were significantly associated with better performance on processing speed.Similarly, there were moderate associations between loneliness, attention, and processing speed, which remained true after accounting for age, sex, and education. In sum, across two studies, greenspace exposure and perceived social connection were weakly associated with better cognitive function in older adults and people with SMI, and social connection did partially mediate the relationship between greenspace and cognition. Future directions need to focus on running further studies to better understand the underlying mechanisms driving the relationship, or potential lack thereof, between greenspace, social connection, and cognition.
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2024