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      Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities

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          Abstract

          Contact with green space in the environment has been associated with mental health benefits, but the mechanism underpinning this association is not clear. This study extends an earlier exploratory study showing that more green space in deprived urban neighbourhoods in Scotland is linked to lower levels of perceived stress and improved physiological stress as measured by diurnal patterns of cortisol secretion. Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at 3, 6 and 9 h post awakening over two consecutive weekdays, together with measures of perceived stress. Participants (n = 106) were men and women not in work aged between 35–55 years, resident in socially disadvantaged districts from the same Scottish, UK, urban context as the earlier study. Results from linear regression analyses showed a significant and negative relationship between higher green space levels and stress levels, indicating living in areas with a higher percentage of green space is associated with lower stress, confirming the earlier study findings. This study further extends the findings by showing significant gender differences in stress patterns by levels of green space, with women in lower green space areas showing higher levels of stress. A significant interaction effect between gender and percentage green space on mean cortisol concentrations showed a positive effect of higher green space in relation to cortisol measures in women, but not in men. Higher levels of neighbourhood green space were associated with healthier mean cortisol levels in women whilst also attenuating higher cortisol levels in men. We conclude that higher levels of green space in residential neighbourhoods, for this deprived urban population of middle-aged men and women not in work, are linked with lower perceived stress and a steeper (healthier) diurnal cortisol decline. However, overall patterns and levels of cortisol secretion in men and women were differentially related to neighbourhood green space and warrant further investigation.

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          More green space is linked to less stress in deprived communities: Evidence from salivary cortisol patterns

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            Interactions of the circadian CLOCK system and the HPA axis.

            Organisms have developed concurrent behavioral and physiological adaptations to the strong influence of day/night cycles, as well as to unforeseen, random stress stimuli. These circadian and stress-related responses are achieved by two highly conserved and interrelated regulatory networks, the circadian CLOCK and stress systems, which respectively consist of oscillating molecular pacemakers, the Clock/Bmal1 transcription factors, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its end-effector, the glucocorticoid receptor. These systems communicate with one another at different signaling levels and dysregulation of either system can lead to development of pathologic conditions. In this review, we summarize the mutual physiologic interactions between the circadian CLOCK system and the HPA axis, and discuss their clinical implications. 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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              The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                ijerph
                International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
                MDPI
                1661-7827
                1660-4601
                02 September 2013
                September 2013
                : 10
                : 9
                : 4086-4103
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK; E-Mail: p.a.aspinall@ 123456hw.ac.uk
                [2 ]OPENspace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, UK; E-Mail: c.ward-thompson@ 123456ed.ac.uk
                [3 ]Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK; E-Mails: m.brewer@ 123456bioss.ac.uk (M.J.B.); e.duff@ 123456bioss.ac.uk (E.I.D.)
                [4 ]James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK; E-Mail: david.miller@ 123456hutton.ac.uk
                [5 ]Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 0XH, UK; E-Mail: richard.mitchell@ 123456glasgow.ac.uk
                [6 ]Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, London W1B 2UW, UK; E-Mail: clowa@ 123456westminster.ac.uk
                Author notes
                [†]

                These authors contributed equally to this work.

                [* ] Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: jenny.roe@ 123456york.ac.uk ; Tel.: +44-(0)1904-32-3480; +44-(0)1904-32-2898.
                Article
                ijerph-10-04086
                10.3390/ijerph10094086
                3799530
                24002726
                d7a78430-4c1c-4f38-bc18-e49ce4c1171d
                © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

                History
                : 02 August 2013
                : 14 August 2013
                : 15 August 2013
                Categories
                Article

                Public health
                green space,stress,diurnal,saliva,cortisol,neighbourhood,urban,deprivation,gender,mental health
                Public health
                green space, stress, diurnal, saliva, cortisol, neighbourhood, urban, deprivation, gender, mental health

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