Müller, Marie Antonia Elisabeth;
(2023)
Neighbourhood Greenspace and Mental Health and Well-Being: Associations in Children and Adolescents in the United Kingdom.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The evidence to date suggests that there is an association between greenspace and health, but the specifics of this association remain unclear. In this thesis, I investigated the association between neighbourhood greenspace and mental health and well-being in children and adolescents living in the United Kingdom (UK). I completed four studies. In my first two studies, I used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). I investigated the associations of neighbourhood greenspace quantity at ward level with self-regulation in 3- to 7-year-old children (n = 13,774), and well-being in urban 11-year-old adolescents (n = 4,534). In the second study, I also tested for interactions with contextual factors. In my last two studies, I used data from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). I investigated the associations of different types of green spaces (i.e., parks & gardens, natural & semi-natural urban greenspaces, and outdoor sports facilities) and access to ‘high-quality’ green spaces with mental health and well-being in children (5 and 8 years; n = 740) and adolescents (10 to 15 years; n = 1,879) living in London. In the fourth study, I also tested for interactions with perceived neighbourhood quality. I did not find a significant association between neighbourhood greenspace and self-regulation in children or well-being in young urban adolescents. I also did not find consistent associations of certain types of green spaces, or access to ‘high-quality’ green spaces, with mental health or well-being in children or adolescents living in London. Nevertheless, I found interesting interactions (e.g., related to access to private gardens) and patterns (e.g., related to age) that are worth further discussion and investigation. In summary, I did not find a robust association between neighbourhood greenspace and children’s and adolescents’ mental health and well-being. There are several possible explanations for this, one of which is that the association may be context-specific and therefore difficult to capture.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Neighbourhood Greenspace and Mental Health and Well-Being: Associations in Children and Adolescents in the United Kingdom |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry > Epidemiology and Applied Clinical Research |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168685 |
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