Research indicates spending time in natural areas contributes to increased restoration, physical health, overall well-being, and cognitive functioning. For children, schoolyards can provide much needed access to natural restorative environments. The current study aimed to measure the effects of redesigning a schoolyard on measures of students' psychological well-being, physiological stress, cognitive executive functioning and perception of restoration.
The researchers employed a pre/post quasi-experimental study design. The study was carried out at three middle schools in one small town in Austria; a schoolyard redesign was completed at one of the schools, and the other two served as controls. At each school, all students from one grade participated. Study participants (n=133) were aged 13 to 15 years old and 48% were female. Researchers assessed physiological stress by measuring blood pressure. Participants completed the Attention Network Test-Conflict scale to measure executive functioning, and perceived restorativeness was measured in the intervention school only using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. Well-being was assessed using two measures: the Basler Well-Being Questionnaire intra-balance subscale and the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire. Outcomes were assessed with student-completed questionnaires one month before schoolyard redesign and again six to seven weeks after the redesign. Researchers compared changes in outcomes between the intervention school and two control schools (analyzed as one group).
Blood pressure decreased among students at the intervention school only. Well-being improved significantly according to the Basler Well-Being Questionnaire, but improvements on the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire were not significant. Executive functioning also improved, but this occurred in the control group as well as the intervention group. Students at the intervention school perceived increased restorativeness on the compatibility and fascination subscales, though the latter was not a significant relationship. The coherence subscale showed decreases in this aspect of perceived restorativeness.
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