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The relationship of nature experiences in childhood and young adulthood to psychosocial well-being
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a relationship between nature experiences in childhood and young adulthood and psychosocial well-being. Using a theoretical model, the author employed a primarily quantitative design with two optional essay questions at the end to help understand the phenomenon. The researcher designed and assessed several new measures prior to the study to establish validity and reliability of the variables in this study. The researcher also created two optional open-ended questions at the end of the survey that asked participants to share their childhood and young adult nature stories. 281 participants were recruited from undergraduate classes at a large Midwestern university to complete the online survey. Quantitative data was analyzed using a path analysis with MPLUS. The path analysis showed that the data fit the model well, including connections between nature experiences and psychosocial well-being. Participants shared 95 nature stories that were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes with categories were derived from the nature stories: land activities, water activities, psychological mood, and social relationship. The nature stories showed that participants felt strong connections between nature experiences and their well-being. The findings lend support to the proposition that there may be a relationship between nature experiences and psychosocial well-being.
Subject Area
Environmental Studies|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Jones, Kathleen, "The relationship of nature experiences in childhood and young adulthood to psychosocial well-being" (2012). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3546322.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3546322