Real-Time Stress Responses in Outdoor Urban Settings

Jenny Jane Roe (University of Virginia)

This presentation reports on two studies from the US using mHealth (mobile health) sensors to capture real-time stress responses in outdoor urban settings. The first study, Happier by Design, reports a quasi-experimental study in West Palm Beach, FL, comparing wellbeing outcomes from walking an urban waterfront exposed to a short-term design intervention versus a control site with no design intervention. The intervention was designed to specifically promote attributes of psychological restoration including fascination and curiosity. Our study utilized a repeat measures design with participants exposed to the control site and intervention site using a cross-over design with each participant acting as their own control. Three aspects of psychological restoration were measured: subjective mood, perceived restorativeness of the environment and physiological stress captured using a smart watch to measure heart rate variability (HRV) during the walk. Results showed an increase in parasympathetic response (as measured by HRV) and a reduction in perceived stress in the intervention walk, and the opposite pattern whilst walking in the control site (i.e. increased stress). The second study, Enabling Street Mobility in Elders (ESME) reports findings from an urban mobility study in seniors (aged 65+) living independently in Richmond, VA. The study design matched the above, but this time explored walking in an urban ‘green’ versus urban ‘grey’ setting. The study design was also extended to explore interactions between subjective wellbeing, physiological stress, cognitive functioning and a range of environmental variables in the living environment (including air pollution, noise and percentage green space).Findings show a positive effect of walking in urban ‘green’ settings on cognitive functioning (as captured by cognitive reaction time), physiological stress (as captured by heart rate and HRV) and subjective wellbeing (energetic arousal and hedonic tone). The findings are discussed in the context of restorative environment research.