Bob Yirka is a writer for Phys.org.
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People who enjoy nature in urban settings are less lonely than people who stay home, according to a team of researchers. The group describes their study in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The Urban Mind app is an application that allows people to measure their experiences in rural or urban environments. Users are asked questions about how they are feeling and what their surroundings are like three times a day. The app was created by researchers at Kings College London, landscape architects J&L Gibbons and Nomad Projects. The researchers analyzed data from users of the app to learn more about the factors that can lead to loneliness.
The researchers looked at the data from 756 volunteer users of the Urban Mind app, who answered 16,600 of the assessments. They focused on factors that influence loneliness, which is a condition that kills more people than air pollution and obesity. In 39% of the volunteers, overcrowding was found to be a factor that led to increased loneliness. People living in cities can reduce their feelings of loneliness by visiting nature areas. They found that a single trip reduced feelings of loneliness. They found that when people were included in the social circle, they were less lonely, and when they were included in nature, they were more so.
The researchers note that their findings agree with the results of other studies that show that exposure to social inclusion or nature can reduce feelings of loneliness, suggesting that more could be done by health professionals to reduce the loneliness felt by people living in cities. They note that familiarity with the places they visit has been shown to play a role in reducing such feelings, though that was not included in the study.
Scientific Reports has more information on Ryan Hammoud and his research on the association between overcrowding and loneliness using smartphone technologies. There is a DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03398-2.
Scientific reports are in the journal.
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The Urban Mind app shows enjoying nature can reduce city loneliness.
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