The purpose of this study was to examine the role of nature in the lives of adolescents. Owens and McKinnon examined the role of nature by identifying places where adolescents go, what activities adolescents participate in at these places, and why these places are important to them. They proposed that adolescents find nature in places other than those that are typically considered natural, that the youth engage in diverse activities in varied places and for diverse reasons, and they further proposed to establish that access to nature remains important during adolescence.
As part of this study, researchers had 58 adolescents, aged 13 through 20, from three California communities (San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara County, and Pasadena) complete a survey about their community. They used open-ended questions to learn about the youths' perceptions of a variety of topics, including their feelings in various places. The researchers did not ask the youths questions that directly asked about their use of or feelings toward nature or natural areas, but rather used a methodology that allowed them to determine nature's role without pre-directing the youth to focus on nature. The youths were asked to take photographs of the places they discussed, and submitted 1300 images. The photos were attached to the participants' written survey responses for analysis.
In analyzing the survey and photograph data, Owens and McKinnon identified natural elements in adolescents' responses and photographs. Researchers found that nature exists in many of the places that adolescents use and value, including three major types: places that support recreation, restoration, and socialization. Owens and McKinnon discovered that in some cases natural characteristics played a dominant role in why adolescents use and value a place, whereas in other cases nature played a secondary role. For example, adolescents mentioned going to nature preserves, gardens, and backyards to escape and relax. Overall, while the authors note that the study does not provide evidence that nature is more important than other aspects of environments, such as the ability to spend time with friends, it does demonstrate that nature is highly valued by the adolescents and is widespread in the places they use.
In concluding their article, Owens & McKinnon propose that "having places for solitude and reflection is beneficial to youths' positive identity formation, self-efficacy, value formation and other important development tasks." They highlight the need for longitudinal studies to examine how the importance of natural elements changes throughout the life cycle: from childhood to adolescence to adulthood.
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