Page - 95 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

95 5.3 Results The relationship between urban green spaces and potential health effects is a grow- ing research field, with an increasing number of publications, particularly since 2013 (Fig.  5.1). The research discussed here focusses on those studies that consid- ered differences in the socio-economic and socio-demographic context of the popu- lation groups studied. In addition, the particular green space metrics, buffers and data used in the study are considered as it was assumed that there might be a differ- ence in health outcome results when different measures are used. Only 25 papers were directly related to a health outcome linked to urban green space use or avail- ability. The remaining papers indirectly address a health outcome by mentioning a potential health benefit of green space exposure for different population groups in the abstract but not analysing health outcome as a main aim. Papers that address health directly mostly deal with mental health outcomes followed by studies on physical activity, birth outcome, overweight, general health and cardiovascular dis- eases. Results are presented in Table  5.1 and summarised with main associations indicated in Fig.  5.4. 5.3.1 Mental Health and  General Health Cohen-Cline et  al. (2015) studied potential associations between access to green space and self-reported depression, stress and anxiety. When adjusted for confound- ing factors such as income, the association between urban green space and less depression remained significant. Mukherjee et  al. (2017) found a similar association between the nearest park size and depression even when controlling for confounders such as household wealth and education. They showed that a smaller size of the nearest park was associated with higher odds of depression. Controlling for socio- economic status, Triguero-Mas et  al. (2015) identified that surrounding green spaces were associated with better mental health. Mitchell et  al. (2015) found improved mental health in lower income groups when access to green space and recreational areas improved. A similar relationship was found by Feda et  al. (2015), who showed an inverse association between accessibility of urban parks and perceived stress among adolescents when controlled for socio-economic status. Thompson et  al. (2016) identified that higher quantity and better access to green spaces including gardens and allotments were significantly related to decreased stress levels in deprived communities. For 3- to 5-year-old children, Flouri et  al. (2014) found that in lower income groups, children with a higher percentage of green space in their neighbourhood had fewer emotional problems. For a study of 4- to 6-year-old children, those with comparatively more park and natural area space around their homes had better mental  health  outcomes. Interestingly, Astell-Burt et  al. (2014) showed that the green space-mental health association varies across the life course and between 5 The Influence of  Socio-economic and  Socio-demographic Factors in  the  Association…