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Multiple environmental exposures along daily mobility paths and depressive symptoms: A smartphone-based tracking
Hannah Roberts1, Marco Helbich1
1Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
Exposure to green space, both at home and during daily travel, was linked to fewer depressive symptoms. This highlights the importance of accessible nature for mental well-being.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Psychiatry
- Urban Planning
Background:
- Traditional environmental health studies often focus solely on residential exposures, neglecting the impact of diverse daily environments on mental health.
- Understanding the environment-mental health nexus requires considering multiple exposure settings, including those encountered during daily mobility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate associations between residential and mobility-based environmental exposures (green space, blue space, noise, air pollution) and depressive symptoms.
- To compare the strength of these associations between residential-only and daily mobility path models.
- To explore sex as a potential moderator in the environment-mental health relationship.
Main Methods:
- Utilized global positioning systems (GPS) tracking of 393 adults for up to 7 days to capture daily mobility patterns.
- Assessed depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
- Quantified environmental exposures including green space (NDVI), blue space, noise (Lden), and air pollution (PM2.5) using 50m and 100m buffers around residential addresses and GPS points. Employed multiple linear regression and Wald tests for analysis.
Main Results:
- A significant negative association was found between green space exposure and depressive symptoms in both residential and mobility-based models (50m buffer).
- No significant differences were detected in the strength of associations between residential- and mobility-based models.
- No significant moderation effect of sex was observed on the environment-mental health associations.
Conclusions:
- Immediate green space exposure, whether at home or along daily travel routes, is associated with reduced depressive symptoms.
- Dynamic exposure assessment incorporating daily mobility offers valuable insights into environment-mental health relationships.
- Further research is needed to fully establish the utility of dynamic exposure assessment methods in environmental health studies.
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