The psychophysiological reactivity to beaches vs. to green and urban environments: insights from a virtual reality experiment

Abstract

Coastal environments effectively reduce perceived levels of stress. However, little is known about whether coastal environments influence physiological parameters of stress, whether these influences differ from those of urban and green environments, and whether these effects depend on the level of precedent stress. The current study exposed 164 participants (18-65y, 68% female) from the Flemish population to two 16-minute virtual reality exposures (i.e. beach vs. green or urban) via a randomized crossover design, during which the heart rate, high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), skin conductance responses (SCR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), breathing rate, and upper trapezius muscle tone were monitored. Self-reported measures of stress were also taken. General linear mixed models analyzed for each parameter whether the change over time differed per exposed environment and by the level of stress in the past week (from ‘low’ to ‘moderate’ levels), while controlling for study design and participant related covariates. Results show that beaches caused lower breathing rates than urban environments and lower SCR than green environments. The upper trapezius muscle tone showed complex patterns, and the heart rate, HF-HRV, and MAP did not react differently to the beach than to the urban and green environments. The individuals’ level of stress in the past week did not affect these differences much. Self-reported measures showed that, under moderate stress, beaches decreased the negative mood and perceived stress, whereas green environments did not and urban environments generally had more adverse effects on the negative mood, perceived stress, positive mood, and perceived quality for relaxation. This study demonstrates that beaches slow down breathing and reduce the sympathetic nervous system activity, and highlights the benefits of beaches for health and wellbeing. The results mark the importance of considering diverse physiological pathways of stress and the individuals’ precedent stress.