Does Spending Time in Nature Help Students Cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our economy, social lives, and mental health, and it therefore provides a unique chance for researchers to examine how people cope with changes to their everyday activities. Research suggests that people may be spending more time in nature than they did pre-pandemic. The current study sheds light on how nature is being used to cope with the stresses of the global health crisis and lockdowns. Canadian undergraduate students (N = 559) filled out a questionnaire during the fall of 2020 about their pandemic experience, including their affects, life satisfaction, and feelings of flourishing and vitality, in addition to a wide variety of nature variables. The weekly exposures, the perceived increases or decreases in the exposure to nature during the pandemic, and the feelings of connectedness (nature relatedness) were assessed. Those who felt like they were spending more time in nature than they did pre-pandemic experienced more subjective well-being. Nature-related individuals were more likely to access nature and to appreciate it more during the pandemic than others, but all people (even those less connected) experienced well-being benefits from spending more time in nature. Going into nature appears to be an increasingly popular and effective coping strategy to boost or maintain subjective well-being during the pandemic.