According to new research based on data from 18 countries, adults with better mental health are more likely to report having spent time as children playing in and around coastal and inland waters such as rivers and lakes (also known collectively as blue spaces). The discovery was confirmed in all of the countries studied.
Spending time in and around green spaces such as parks and woodlands in adulthood is associated with stress reduction and improved mental health, according to mounting evidence. We know far less about the benefits of blue spaces and the role that childhood contact plays in these relationships later in life.
Data came from the BlueHealth International Survey (BIS), a cross-sectional survey co-ordinated by the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health. The current analysis used data from over 15,000 people across 14 European Countries and 4 other non-European countries/regions (Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, and California).
Our findings suggest that building familiarity and confidence in and around blue spaces during childhood may stimulate an inherent joy of nature and encourage people to seek out recreational nature experiences, with beneficial consequences for adult mental health.
Valeria Vitale
Respondents were asked to recall their blue space experiences between the ages of 0 and 16 years old, including how close they were, how frequently they visited them, and how comfortable their parents/guardians were with them playing in these settings, as well as more recent contact with green and blue spaces in the previous four weeks, and mental health in the previous two weeks.
The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, discovered that people who remembered more childhood blue space experiences had a higher intrinsic value on natural settings in general and visited them more frequently as adults, all of which were associated with better mental wellbeing in adulthood.
Valeria Vitale, Lead author, and Ph.D. Candidate at Sapienza University of Rome, said: “In the context of an increasingly technological and industrialized world, it’s important to understand how childhood nature experiences relate to wellbeing in later life.
“Our findings suggest that building familiarity and confidence in and around blue spaces during childhood may stimulate an inherent joy of nature and encourage people to seek out recreational nature experiences, with beneficial consequences for adult mental health.”
Dr Leanne Martin, Co-author and Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health, said: “Water settings can be dangerous for children, and parents are right to be cautious. This research suggests though that supporting children to feel comfortable in these settings and developing skills such as swimming at an early age can have previously unrecognized life-long benefits.”
Dr. Mathew White, Co-author and Senior Scientist at the University of Vienna, stated, “The current study adds to our growing awareness of the need for urban planners and local bodies responsible for managing our green and blue spaces to provide safe, accessible access to natural settings for the healthy mental and physical development of our children.”
“If our findings are supported by longitudinal research that tracks people’s exposures throughout their lives, it would imply that more work, policies, and initiatives encouraging more blue space experiences during childhood may be a viable way to support the mental health of future generations.”
