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Published on: August 4, 2023
Short-term responses across two sequential plant-based activity sessions: an exploratory fixed-order pilot study
Li-Li Chang1, Yun-Hsien Ku1, Chuen-Yu Chuang1
1Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
Structured plant-based activities combine natural materials, purposeful manual work, sensory engagement, and social interaction, but direct comparisons of practical formats in community adults remain limited. We characterized short-term responses during two sequential sessions and compared within-session changes.
Methods:
Twenty-five adults participated in a single-group, fixed-order pilot study. Session 1 involved horticultural crafting; 1 week later, Session 2 involved balm crafting followed by horticultural crafting. Twenty-three attended both sessions. DASS-21 and STAI-S were principal outcomes; horticultural wellbeing, HRV, and forehead single-channel EEG were exploratory. Within-session changes and complete-case between-session differences were estimated with 95% CIs. Post hoc TOST examined exploratory equivalence bounds.
Results:
Both sessions were followed by favorable short-term psychological changes. DASS-21 scores decreased by 8.57 points in Session 1 [95% CI (5.41, 11.72), n = 23] and 5.53 in Session 2 [(2.65, 8.41), n = 17]. STAI-S scores decreased by 7.30 points in Session 1 [(5.23, 9.37), n = 25] and 6.86 in Session 2 [(4.07, 9.66), n = 22]; all four Holm-adjusted p values were <0.001. Complete-case comparisons showed no statistically detectable between-session difference in DASS-21 improvement [3.12 points, 95% CI (-1.51, 7.75)] or STAI-S improvement [0.34 points, (-3.15, 3.83)]. STAI-S changes met the exploratory TOST criterion only at the broad ±0.50 standardized bound. Horticultural wellbeing improved in both sessions; SDNN and RMSSD increased, whereas EEG findings did not remain significant after multiplicity correction.
Conclusion:
Both sessions were associated with favorable short-term psychological changes, particularly reduced distress and state anxiety. These findings support the feasibility and potential value of brief, hands-on plant-based activities in community settings and provide estimates for larger randomized, counterbalanced trials. Given the fixed order and absence of a control group, the findings are preliminary rather than definitive causal or modality-specific evidence.
