Interventions to increase nature connectedness and related outcomes to facilitate improvements in human health and pro-environmental behaviours: A systematic review
1
Cities and Planetary Health, School of Architecture Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2
School of Population Health, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia
3
School of Architecture Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Evidence indicates that nature connectedness plays a significant role in protecting the environment and building a range of nature protection behavior (1-2). In this review, we aimed to generate a high-quality evidence on the type of interventions that improve nature connectedness and its effects on health outcomes and pro-environmental behaviors.
METHODS:
We conducted literature searches in databases including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Greenfile, Web of Science, and PsycInfo. We included only randomized controlled trials with any intervention that assessed nature connectedness as an outcome using a validated scale. We considered trials with any population, nature connectedness as an outcome and any pro-environmental outcomes. and published in English language. We excluded non-randomized pre-post studies and experimental studies without control groups. Two reviewers independently conducted study selection and data collection. Continuous outcomes were measured using the mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) if trials used the same scale/questionnaire, if not we used standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI. We conducted meta-analysis using random effect model and quantified the heterogeneity. We conducted subgroup analyses based on intervention type and outcome assessment methods.
RESULTS:
A total of 35 studies with 4950 participants were included. Meta-analytic findings indicated that multiple nature interventions improved nature connectedness compared to control groups (SMD 0.48, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.69, I2=85%; 27 studies with 2982 participants). A pooled analysis of ten studies indicated that interventions significantly increased pro-environmental behaviors compared to control groups (SMD 0.31, 95% ci 0.13 to 0.49, 10 studies, 993 participants).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our review findings indicate that nature supported interventions improved nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviors.
Evidence indicates that nature connectedness plays a significant role in protecting the environment and building a range of nature protection behavior (1-2). In this review, we aimed to generate a high-quality evidence on the type of interventions that improve nature connectedness and its effects on health outcomes and pro-environmental behaviors.
METHODS:
We conducted literature searches in databases including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Greenfile, Web of Science, and PsycInfo. We included only randomized controlled trials with any intervention that assessed nature connectedness as an outcome using a validated scale. We considered trials with any population, nature connectedness as an outcome and any pro-environmental outcomes. and published in English language. We excluded non-randomized pre-post studies and experimental studies without control groups. Two reviewers independently conducted study selection and data collection. Continuous outcomes were measured using the mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) if trials used the same scale/questionnaire, if not we used standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI. We conducted meta-analysis using random effect model and quantified the heterogeneity. We conducted subgroup analyses based on intervention type and outcome assessment methods.
RESULTS:
A total of 35 studies with 4950 participants were included. Meta-analytic findings indicated that multiple nature interventions improved nature connectedness compared to control groups (SMD 0.48, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.69, I2=85%; 27 studies with 2982 participants). A pooled analysis of ten studies indicated that interventions significantly increased pro-environmental behaviors compared to control groups (SMD 0.31, 95% ci 0.13 to 0.49, 10 studies, 993 participants).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our review findings indicate that nature supported interventions improved nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviors.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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