Nature at work: The effects of day-to-day nature contact on workers’ stress and psychological well-being

Abstract

Objectives

Chronic stress and burnout are key health issues for office workers that may contribute to a myriad of poor health outcomes. The presence of natural elements may improve psychological well-being in workers but the number of existing studies is relatively low, and more longitudinal research is specifically needed to assess how characteristics of workers’ day-to-day environments may impact mental health outcomes like affect, depression and stress. This report outlines a multi-study investigation of workers at Amazon, a multinational e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington, USA, and the mental health benefits associated with exposure to nature.

Methods

In Study 1, participants (n = 153) responded to a cross-sectional survey that assessed the association of self-reported visitation to an indoor company greenspace with psychological well-being including symptoms of depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and stress. In Study 2, a subset of participants from Study 1 (n = 33) completed multiple surveys in a 2-week period that assessed the association of the naturalness of their current environments with their state levels of psychological well-being.

Results

We found contact with more natural outdoor environments was significantly associated with reduced state anxiety, after adjusting for activity type, location, and participants’ trait levels of nature relatedness.

Conclusions

Findings demonstrate that nature contact in everyday life is significantly associated with decreased levels of state anxiety. More research is needed to investigate the role of nature contact as a potential intervention in the workplace for improved mental health.