The articles in the database below represent a curated selection from our NHA (full) members and Executive Committee. Rather than being a comprehensive database, like what you would find on a mainstream database, this is a limited and curated list of articles gathered by our member. To be included, these peer-reviewed articles and resources must meet specific criteria, ensuring a foundation of quality. Articles included cover a diverse array of study types—experiments, qualitative research, and meta-analyses—all exploring the intricate relationship between nature and well-being. Priority is accorded to works addressing DEIJ matters or fostering consensus on vital topics. If you would like to submit an article to be featured in the database, please email manager@naturehealthalliance.org.
Authors:Amber L. Fyfe-Johnson, Marnie F. Hazlehurst, Sara P. Perrins, Gregory N. Bratman, Rick Thomas, Kimberly A. Garrett, Kiana R. Hafferty, Tess M. Cullaz, Edgar K. Marcuse and Pooja Tandon |
| Pediatrics | Volume 148, Issue 4 (October 2021): e2020049155
Daily outdoor play is encouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Existing evidence is unclear on the independent effect of nature exposures on child health. We systematically evaluated evidence regarding the relationship between nature contact and children’s health.
This study fills a void in the literature by both validating images of nature for use in future research experiments and examining which characteristics of these images are most representative of nature. Understanding semantic categories most representative of nature is useful in developing nature-centered interventions and research that uses neuroimaging modalities, such as fMRI studies.
Authors:Terri L. Menser, Juha Baek, Jacob Siahaan, Jacob M. Kolman, Domenica Delgado and Bita Kash |
| Frontiers in Psychology | Volume 12
This study fills a void in the literature by both validating images of nature for use in future research experiments and examining which characteristics of these visual stimuli are found to be most representative of nature.
Authors:Alyson J. Littman, Gregory N. Bratman, Keren Lehavot, Charles C. Engel, John C. Fortney, Alexander Peterson, Alex Jones, Carolyn Klassen, Joshua Brandon and Howard Frumkin |
| BMJ Open | Volume 11, Issue 9: e051885
To evaluate feasibility and acceptability of a group-based nature recreation intervention (nature hiking) and control condition (urban hiking) for military Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Authors:Himani Bhakuni and Seye Abimbola |
| The Lancet Global Health | Volume 9, Number 10: e1465-e1470
This Viewpoint calls attention to the pervasive wrongs related to knowledge production, use, and circulation in global health, many of which are taken for granted.
Authors:Gregory N. Bratman, Hector A. Olvera-Alvarez and James J. Gross |
| Social and Personality Psychology Compass | Volume 15, Issue 8
Mounting evidence demonstrates that nature exposure can have affective benefits. These include behavioral and psychophysiological responses consistent with (a) decreases in stress and negative affect; and (b) increases in subjective well-being and positive affect. What is less clear, however, is what mechanisms are responsible for these effects.
Authors:Roy P. Remme, Howard Frumkin, Anne D. Guerry, Abby C. King, Lisa Mandle, Chethan Sarabu, Gregory N. Bratman, Billie Giles-Corti, Perrine Hamel, Baolong Han, Jennifer L. Hicks, Peter James, Joshua J. Lawler, Therese Lindahl, Hongxiao Liu, Yi Lu, Bram Oosterbroek, Bibek Paudel, James F. Sallis, Jasper Schipperijn, Rok Sosič, Sjerp de Vries, Benedict W. Wheeler, Spencer A. Wood, Tong Wu and Gretchen C. Daily |
| Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) | Volume 118, Number 22
Nature underpins human well-being in critical ways, especially in health. Nature provides pollination of nutritious crops, purification of drinking water, protection from floods, and climate security, among other well-studied health benefits.
Authors:Marcia P. Jimenez, Nicole V. DeVille, Elise G. Elliott, Jessica E. Schiff, Grete E. Wilt, Jaime E. Hart and Peter James |
| International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Volume 18, Issue 9: 4790
There is extensive empirical literature on the association between exposure to nature and health.
Authors:Mathew P. White, Lewis R. Elliott, James Grellier, Theo Economou, Simon Bell, Gregory N. Bratman, Marta Cirach, Mireia Gascon, Maria L. Lima, Mare Löhmus, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Ann Ojala, Anne Roiko, P. Wesley Schulz, Matilda A. van den Bosch and Lora E. Fleming |
| Scientific Reports | Scientific Reports: 8903
Living near, recreating in, and feeling psychologically connected to, the natural world are all associated with better mental health, but many exposure-related questions remain.
Authors:Gregory N. Bratman, Gerald Young, Ashish Mehta, Ihno Lee-Babineaux, Gretchen C. Daily and James J. Gross |
| Frontiers in Psychology | Volume 12
Mounting evidence shows that nature contact is associated with affective benefits. However, the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects are not well understood. In this study, we examined whether more time spent in nature was associated with higher levels of positive affect in general, and lower levels of negative affect and rumination in general.
Authors:Usha Varanasi, Vera L. Trainer and Ervin Joe Schumacker |
| International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Volume 18, Issue 5: 2662
The most proactive approach to resolving current health and climate crises will require a long view, focused on establishing and fostering partnerships to identify and eliminate root causes of the disconnect between humans and nature.
Authors:Hector A. Olvera-Alvarez, Matthew H.E.M. Browning, Andreas M. Neophytou and Gregory N. Bratman |
| International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Volume 18, Issue 2: 520
Evolutionary psychology theories propose that contact with green, natural environments may benefit physical health, but little comparable evidence exists for brown, natural environments, such as the desert.
Authors:Michelle Tester-Jones, Mathew P. White, Netta Weinstein, Lewis R. Elliott, James Grellier, Theo Economou, Gregory N. Bratman, Anne Cleary, Mireia Gascon, Kalevi Korpela, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Aisling O'Connor, Ann Ojala, Matilda A. van den Bosch and Lora E. Fleming |
| Scientific Reports | Scientific Reports: 19408
Exposure to natural environments is associated with a lower risk of common mental health disorders (CMDs), such as depression and anxiety, but we know little about nature-related motivations, practices and experiences of those already experiencing CMDs.
Authors:Kimberly L. Meidenbauer, Cecilia U.D. Stenfors, Gregory N. Bratman, James J. Gross, Kyoung Whan Choe, Cecilia U.D. Stenfors and Marc G. Berman |
| Journal of Environmental Psychology | Volume 72: 101498
Nature interactions have been demonstrated to produce reliable affective benefits.
Authors:Mathew P. White, Gregory N. Bratman, Sabine Pahl, Gerald Young, Deborah Cracknell and Lewis R. Elliott |
| Journal of Environmental Psychology | Volume 72: 101502
Recent reports have presented evidence of dramatic biodiversity declines.
In industrialized and urbanized societies, medical science focuses primarily on trauma and diseases, and most environmental work attempts to remediate natural and anthropogenic degradation.
Authors:Jenny Rowland-Shea, Sahir Doshi, Shanna Edberg and Robert Fanger |
Clean drinking water, clean air, public parks and beaches, biodiversity, and open spaces are shared goods to which every person in the United States has an equal right both in principle and in law.
The environmental services and benefits of urban trees are diverse and well recognized. What is less recognized is the relationship between urban trees and human health.
Authors:Kathleen L. Wolf, Sharon T. Lam, Jennifer K. McKeen, Gregory R. A. Richardson, Matilda A. van den Bosch and Adrina C. Bardekjian |
| International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Volume 17, Issue 11: 4371
The urban forest is a green infrastructure system that delivers multiple environmental, economic, social and health services, and functions in cities.
Authors:Michelle C. Kondo, Kehinde O. Oyekanmi, Allison Gibson, Eugenia C. South, Jason Bocarro and J. Aaron Hipp |
| International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Volume 17, Issue 12
Nature prescription programs have emerged to address the high burden of chronic disease and increasingly sedentary and screen-based lifestyles.
