Investigating the role of natural environments in the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programme

The aims of this PhD study are to investigate the potential for enhancing one of the most popular wellbeing interventions (i.e.Mindfulness-based stress reduction: MBSR) by incorporating exposure to natural environments, and to explore the interactions leading to recovery or resilience of mental health and wellbeing.The research includes three-phase experimental research.Phase 1 is a scoping study of the main field experiment, examining the effectiveness of MBSR (i.e.MBSR vs. relaxation control group) and environmental conditions (i.e.woodland vs. parkland vs. urban setting vs. indoor) using simulated environments.Participants (n=122) were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups (brief MBSR, relaxation control group) under different simulated environmental conditions during an intervention lasting three weeks.Phase 2 is a more extended study using 'actual' environments.In order to compare the effectiveness of the intervention in different settings, participants (n=99) were randomly assigned to a six-week MBSR programme in one of three different environments (i.e.natural outdoor, built outdoor and indoor).Finally, Phase 3 is conducted to compare the effectiveness of MBSR between simulated and actual natural environments, using secondary data analysis -qualitative (n=64) and quantitative data (n=7) from earlier studies (phase 1 & phase 2).This is one of the first studies to incorporate place-based assets into an intervention.This paper has provided a fine-grained insight into the enhancement of a common wellbeing intervention through exposure to natural environments via its experimental, factorial design and the multiple outcome measures.Overall findings of this PhD showed that a wellbeing intervention (i.e.MBSR) is more effective when carried out in natural environments -both simulated and actual natural settings.The enhancement of wellbeing interventions when combined with natural environments would encourage policymakers and clinical commissioners to support the development of interventions involving natural settings.