2025/08/20 by Paul J. Villeneuve, Susanna Abraham Cottagiri, Ying Jiang +2
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Urban Green Space and Health #Place Attachment and Urban Studies #Land Use and Ecosystem Services
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0329141
BACKGROUND: Urban greenness has several demonstrated mental health benefits, including lower rates of depression and loneliness. Few studies have evaluated the possible benefits of greenness on depression during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. We investigated this topic using a prospective cohort of Canadian adults. METHODS: Our study population consisted of 13,130 participants, 50 years of age and older, of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Short Scale (CES-D-10) screening tool was used to determine whether individuals had depression at two-time points (pre-pandemic, and 6 months into the pandemic). Greenness was characterized using the maximum annual mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (500m buffer) from the pre-pandemic residential address. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of depression during the pandemic in relation to an interquartile range increase in the NDVI. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression increased nearly twofold between the pre-pandemic and pandemic surveys (8.5% to 16.5% for men; 14.4% to 27.1% for women). Irrespective of depression status before the pandemic, those with higher residential greenness had lower odds of depression during the pandemic. Among those 'not depressed' pre-pandemic, the odds ratio (OR) of depression during the pandemic in relation to an interquartile increase in the NDVI (0.06) was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85-0.97), while a weaker association was found for those depressed pre-pandemic (OR=0.96; 95% CI: 0.83-1.11). The inverse association between greenness and depression during the pandemic was strongest among those of lower socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that green spaces in urban areas helped mitigate against depression during the pandemic.