Restoration Skills Training in a natural setting compared to Nature on Prescription : Effects of nature and mindfulness on general psychological distress, mind-wandering and quality of life in a student population

Sammanfattning: Millions of people around the world suffer from mental health problems, and the student population is a group at particular risk for which effective interventions to alleviate suffering and support well-being are needed. We conducted a pilot study comparing the effects of a five-week mindfulness course called Restoration Skills Training (ReST) on university students' levels of general psychological distress, mind-wandering and self-perceived quality of life, to a Nature on Prescrption (NoP) intervention involving a matched schedule and dose of nature contact but no mindfulness training. The study was conducted as a treatment evaluation in field conditions with a sample of 33 university students with stress and concentration difficulties. We hypothesized that ReST would lead to superior improvements on the three outcome measures compared to NoP. ReST was attended by significant improvements in general psychological distress, attentional lapses due to mind-wandering and self-perceived quality of life. Improvements from NoP could be affirmed for psychological distress and attentional lapses, but not quality of life. However, unexpected pre-measure differences between the intervention groups complicated interpretation. None of the hypotheses regarding a superior effect of ReST were supported but apparent statistical trends and feedback obtained from the participants can inform further studies of these interventions. Tentative conclusions are that exposure to nature, as included in both ReST and NoP, can have a positive impact on students' levels of general psychological distress, attentional lapses due to mind-wandering and self-perceived quality of life, and that future research into these interventions is warranted.