Effects of greenness in university campuses on test anxiety among Chinese university students during COVID-19 lockdowns: a correlational and mediation analysis

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations of greenness exposure with test anxiety among university students during COVID-19 lockdowns and to explore their mechanisms. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 2609 university students in Anhui and Shandong provinces, China. We assessed perceived campus greenness using a five-point Likert scale for quality, visibility, abundance, usage, and accessibility. Objective greenness was estimated via average normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) in 1,000-, 1,500-, and 2,000-m radius zones around each of the campuses. A generalised linear mixed model examined the associations between greenness and test anxiety and to evaluate the mediation effects of physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and air pollution. Results showed that higher NDVI1500-m correlated with lower test anxiety (OR = 0.871; 95% CI: 0.851, 0.891), physical activity may partially mediate this association. Increased campus greenness may alleviate test anxiety among Chinese university students.KEYWORDS: Greennessperceived campus greennesstest anxiety AcknowledgementsWe sincerely express our gratitude to all participants, coordinators, and administrators.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Authors' contributionsMeihui Tian contributed to the research design, data analysis, design of statistical models, and writing of the first draft of the manuscript. Chengrong Liu and Jingwen Xi performed data analysis and revised the manuscript. Liya Wang, Peiyao Zhang, and Chao Liu. contributed to data collection and Interpretation of the results. Ke Zhao and Rong Li critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content and Yue Wu provided epidemiological insights. Xianjie Jia and Ying Yu provided overall guidance to the study.Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2023.2263382.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the 512 Talent Cultivation Plan of Bengbu Medical College (grant numbers by51201202); the 512 Talent Cultivation Plan of Bengbu Medical College (grant numbers by 51201307).