Studies showing nature helps mental health ‘limited to wealthy white people’

Over 95 per cent of such studies occur in high-income western nations, reports Aisha Rimi

New findings show a troubling lack of diversity – in participants and geography – in a fast-growing scientific field exploring nature’s effects on mental health (Joshua Brown/UVM)

Numerous studies have been published detailing the benefits of nature, forests and parks on human well-being and mental health. However, a new study has revealed how a lack of diversity in both participants and geography could threaten the ability to make such universal scientific claims.

A newly published paper shows that most studies in this field tend to look at “overwhelmingly white” western and rich nations.

The team of researchers analysed 174 peer-reviewed studies from 2010 to 2020. Their findings, published in Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, showed that study participants were mostly white and that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) communities were strongly underrepresented.

Over 95 per cent of the research was carried out in high-income western nations in North America, Europe and East Asia – or westernised countries such as South Africa – while research in the Global South was largely absent. Only one study took place in Africa and one in South America.

Less than four per cent of studies took place in medium-income countries, such as India, with no studies in low-income countries.

“This field has great potential to address urgent issues—from the global mental health crisis to sustainability efforts worldwide—but to do so, we must better reflect the diversity of world’s populations, cultures and values,” says lead author Carlos Andres Gallegos-Riofrio of the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment.

“We hope our study is a wake-up call for this promising field that sparks positive change,” added co-author Rachelle Gould. “A more inclusive and diverse field that embraces the research needs of the global community—and the full spectrum of ways that humans interact with the non-human world—will ultimately be more impactful.”

The research was inspired by a 2012 study, which ​​highlighted the issue of drawing universal conclusions about human behaviour from experiments that mainly used university students from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) nations.

As most of the world’s population live in non-WEIRD countries, with different styles of perception and reasoning and values, the team of experts argued that such studies could not credibly support universal scientific claims.

“We need all cultures working together to tackle the global emergencies we face,” says Amaya Carrasco, a co-author and UVM graduate student.

“That requires understanding what’s universal about the human-nature relationship, and what is culturally specific. Those insights are critical to driving social change, and require research to be more inclusive. We need all hands on deck.”