An Examination of the Relationship Between Objective and Subjective Greenspace Exposure and Child Social-Emotional and Cognitive Development: Findings from Two UK Birth Cohorts
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Natural environments, conceptualised as greenspace, have been increasingly linked to adult human health and well-being outcomes. Less researched is the impact on child development. This thesis investigates associations and causal validity of objective and subjective exposure to greenspace and child cognitive and social-emotional development. Study one: A systematic review of longitudinal studies investigating greenspace exposure in childhood and adolescence and social-emotional and cognitive developmental outcomes. It found inconsistent evidence of an association between greenspace and developmental outcomes, with robust studies displaying evidence of an effect, and lack of an effect. Exposure misclassification was common, and study heterogeneity limited synthesisation. Study two: A longitudinal analysis of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children which assessed the association between greenspace metrics and social-emotional development in children aged 4-11 years old. Predominately null and weak associations were observed in relation to two geographic greenspace exposures. However, parental reported park visits displayed strong and consistent associations with Total Difficulties Score (TDS) throughout childhood. Causal inference techniques were employed, which increased the causal validity of the association between park visits once a week or more and improved child social-emotional development. Study three: A cross-sectional analysis of the Born in Bradford cohort (6.9 to 12.6 years old). It assessed associations between park visits and outdoor play, and prosocial behaviour alongside TDS. Park visits was generally not associated with either outcome, whereas outdoor play was associated with improved TDS and prosocial behaviour. Stratification by ethnicity and area deprivation showed that generally, the White and least deprived populations, which co-occurred substantially, gained social-emotional competency benefits, while the Asian and most deprived gained no or weaker benefits. Area deprivation modified the association between outdoor play and social-emotional competency and it was argued that this drove differential associations by ethnicity. Conclusion: The park visits measures capture the aspects of greenspace that facilitate social-emotional developmental benefits in children. Park visits could causally improve social-emotional development, but this relationship is influenced by factors such as area deprivation.
Author: M Ferguson (9858185)
Language: English
Topic: Urban Green Space and Health
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7019073726