Psychologiestudie findet Ausstrahlungseffekte von Naturbesuchen auf das tägliche Glück | Dieses Muster galt für Menschen mit und ohne häufige psychische Störungen, einschließlich Depressionen und Angstzuständen.

From the article: People tend to report greater happiness on days when they visit natural spaces, according to new research [published](https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2549296) in The Journal of Positive Psychology. The study found that both green spaces like parks and forests and blue spaces such as rivers and lakes were associated with higher levels of happiness. This pattern held true for people with and without common mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Mental health challenges, ranging from temporary distress to persistent conditions like depression and anxiety, affect millions worldwide. Treatment options, including therapy and medication, can be costly, difficult to access, or culturally stigmatized. Given these barriers, researchers have been exploring how spending time in nature might serve as a helpful and widely accessible supplement to conventional care.

Previous studies have shown that natural settings can support emotional well-being, especially by enhancing positive moods. These benefits have been observed across different countries and populations, but questions remain. How long do the emotional effects of a nature visit last? Do they influence the overall mood of the entire day, or are the benefits short-lived? Are people with mental health conditions affected differently than others? And do green and blue environments offer similar psychological effects?

The current study, led by Tobias Harvey and Mathew P. White, was designed to address these gaps by analyzing how nature visits relate to daily well-being across a broad sample of adults, including those with self-reported depression and anxiety. By focusing on how people felt “yesterday,” the researchers aimed to capture the emotional ripple effects of spending time in nature.

“There is plenty of research showing that people (often) feel happier and less anxious in safe natural settings compared to urban and indoor settings. However, there is little evidence concerning whether these momentary feelings have any positive spill-over afterwards or whether when we return to our busy urban lives we immediately go back to the more stressed and tense emotions often associated with these,” explained White, an assistant professor at the University of Vienna.

>While the findings provide support for the idea that nature visits can improve daily well-being, especially happiness, the study has some limitations. For example, the research relied on self-reported data from a single day. This makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about cause and effect.

My question too, how do we know this wasn’t just an indication that happy people like to go out and play?