The greener the better? Does neighborhood greenness buffer the effects of stressful life events on externalizing behavior in late adolescence?

Joyce Weeland; Odilia M. Laceulle; Esther Nederhof; Geertjan Overbeek; Seijmen A. Reijneveld

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102163

The greener the better? Does neighborhood greenness buffer the effects of stressful life events on externalizing behavior in late adolescence?

Joyce Weeland^*
, Odilia M. Laceulle
, Esther Nederhof
, Geertjan Overbeek
, Seijmen A. Reijneveld

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Groningen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

We tested whether neighborhood greenness is a promotive and/or a protective factor in the development of adolescent externalizing behavior problems and explored a possible mechanism of its effects via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) recovery after stress. Data from a longitudinal multi-method study on adolescents (N = 715) was used. Result showed that neighborhood greenness was neither a promotive nor a protective factor. However, adolescents who reported more stressful life events showed more externalizing behavior and –contrary to our expectation− this effect was stronger for adolescents who grew up in greener neighborhoods (vs. less green neighborhoods).

Original language	English
Article number	102163
Journal	Health and Place
Volume	58
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102163
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2019

Funding

This research is part of the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Participating centers of TRAILS include various departments of the University Medical Center and University of Groningen, the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, the University of Utrecht, the Radboud Medical Center Nijmegen, and the Parnassia Bavo group, all in the Netherlands. TRAILS has been financially supported by various grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research NWO ( Medical Research Council program grant GB-MW 940-38-011 ; ZonMW Brainpower grant 100-001-004 ; ZonMw Risk Behavior and Dependence grants 60-60600-98-018 and 60-60600-97-118 ; ZonMw Culture and Health grant 261-98-710 ; Social Sciences Council medium-sized investment grants GB-MaGW 480-01-006 and GB-MaGW 480-07-001 ; Social Sciences Council project grants GB-MaGW 457-03-018 , GB-MaGW 452-04-314 , and GB-MaGW 452-06-004 ; NWO large-sized investment grant 175.010.2003.005 ); the Sophia Foundation for Medical Research (projects 301 and 393 ), the Dutch Ministry of Justice (WODC) , the European Science Foundation (EuroSTRESS project FP-006 ), and the participating universities. We are grateful to all adolescents, their parents and teachers who participated in this research and to everyone who worked on this project and made it possible. Appendix A

Keywords

Externalizing behavior
Mediation
Neighborhood greenness
RSA
Stressful life events

Access to Document

10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102163

1-s2.0-S1353829218312607-mainFinal published version, 718 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{ef905a0d01da4e1bbfbf8cff7f0a57fc,

title = "The greener the better? Does neighborhood greenness buffer the effects of stressful life events on externalizing behavior in late adolescence?",

abstract = "We tested whether neighborhood greenness is a promotive and/or a protective factor in the development of adolescent externalizing behavior problems and explored a possible mechanism of its effects via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) recovery after stress. Data from a longitudinal multi-method study on adolescents (N = 715) was used. Result showed that neighborhood greenness was neither a promotive nor a protective factor. However, adolescents who reported more stressful life events showed more externalizing behavior and –contrary to our expectation− this effect was stronger for adolescents who grew up in greener neighborhoods (vs. less green neighborhoods).",

keywords = "Externalizing behavior, Mediation, Neighborhood greenness, RSA, Stressful life events",

author = "Joyce Weeland and Laceulle, \{Odilia M.\} and Esther Nederhof and Geertjan Overbeek and Reijneveld, \{Seijmen A.\}",

year = "2019",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102163",

language = "English",

volume = "58",

journal = "Health and Place",