Community gardening: stress, well-being and resilience potentials

Koay, Way Inn;Dillon, Denise

Abstract

The financial and health burdens of stress associated with increased urbanisation have led to a demand for mental health enhancement strategies. While some extant literature details mental health benefits of community gardening, a coherent narrative on the construct of resilience and its relationship with the mental health benefits of community gardening is lacking. The present study examined the relationship between community gardening and a number of mental health benefits, in the forms of subjective well-being, stress, resilience potentials, and resilience factors (self-esteem, optimism and openness). 111 residents in Singapore completed a survey. Results from MANCOVA and Pearson’s correlation analyses show that, after controlling for age and levels of connection to nature, community gardeners reported significantly higher levels of subjective well-being than individual/home gardeners and non-gardeners, indicating that engagement in community gardening may be superior to individual/home gardening or non-gardening outdoor activities. Community gardeners reported higher levels of resilience and optimism than the non-gardening control group. These novel results indicate some potential for mental health benefits in urban environments, specifically in terms of subjective well-being and resilience. These findings have implications for future research in clinical psychology, mental health promotion and policy.

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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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1660-4601

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Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)

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DOI

10.3390/ijerph17186740