Stockholm university

Cecilia StenforsAssociate Professor

About me

Stenfors is an associate professor, researcher, university lecturer and research leader of the Stenfors Lab, in the Psychobiology/Epidemiology division and the Work- & Organizational Psychology division, at the Department of Psychology, Stockholm University.

Research focus broadly concern the nexus of human, environmental, and planetary sustainability and health. The interconnection between our environments and human health, cognition and wellbeing, and how to create sustainable places for sustainable people.

Research broadly concern:

  • The determinants of cognitive (mental) functioning, state performance, mental health and wellbeing
  • How to create healty environments which support health, cognition (mental functioning, performance) and wellbeing
  • The role of external environment factors and internal psychological, biological & physiological processes, in cognition, health and wellbeing:
  • Natural vs urban environment exposures
  • Pro-environmental attitudes and behavior: determinants and interventions
  • Physical and psychosocial work environment 

Several current research projects focus on how different natural and urban environment exposures, as well as worklife factors, affect cognition, health and wellbeingboth before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Links to open online course, on the interface of human, animal, environmental and planetry health, incl. a module by Stenfors:

MOOC: “One Health: Pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response” on Coursera

The course contail lectures and modules with international experts from different disciplines. Read more about the course at the Federation of European Academies of Medicine here

Take the course here on Coursera.

 

Links to selected resources/further reading*:

Overview of human and environmental health and sustainability nexus (Swedish): greenspace, nature vs urban environment, mental health, performance and wellbeing, environemntal sustainability, and resilience to crises: https://socialmedicinsktidskrift.se/index.php/smt/article/view/3043/2859

Nature, mental health, cognition & wellbeing during Covid-19: https://psyarxiv.com/cjndm ;https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3303

Natural environments and cognitive performance: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01413

Forskningsrapport om förändringar i arbetsförhållanden under Covid-19 pandemin, i olika grupper på den svenska arbetsmarknaden: https://mynak.se/projekt/coronapandemins-paverkan-pa-arbetsmiljo/svenska-data-om-arbetsmiljo-och-halsa-2012-2022-slosh/

Changes during the Covid-19 pandemic in mental health, life style and work in the Swedish work force, short report by C. Stenfors in UN Academic Impact: https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/exploring-effects-mental-health-covid-19-pandemic-and-associated-societal

Overview and research on concentration and memory problems in worklife- The role of working conditions, stress, etc (cognitive overload, distractions, supportive resources etc) on cognitive problems in work life: http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:661638/FULLTEXT01.pdf

The 72 hour Cabin Case study & communication project, The documentary: https://visitsweden.com/72hcabin/

 

 

*Always cite the publication when referring to it's content.

 

Background

After obtaining my doctoral degree, I was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Chicago in the Environmental Neuroscience Lab (funded by the Swedish Research Council) and post-doctoral researcher at the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet,, where my research focused on the topics described above.

 

Funding

The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life, and Welfare (FORTE)

The Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas)

Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap

Region Stockholm

Folkhälsomyndigheten

Myndigheten för Arbetsmiljökunskap, Mynak

The Swedish Research Council (VR)

 

Members of the Stenfors Lab

Ida Nilsen, PhD student

Yannick Klein, PhD student

Lina Rådmark, PhD

Johanna Stengård, PhD

 

Collaborators

Statistics Sweden

SMHI

Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute & Stockholm University

The Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

Centrum för Arbetsmiljömedicin, Region Stockholm

Center for Social Sustainability, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

School of public health and community medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy & University of Gothenburg.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

University of Chicago, IL, USA.

University of Washington, WA, USA.

Stanford University, CA, USA.

University of Bristish Columbia, BC, Canada.

INSERM and Montpellier University, France.

Mälardalens Högskola.

Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden.

The Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm, Swede

 

Education & training

I earned my Bachelor and Master’s degree in Psychology at the University of St Andrews, UK (2007), and my Doctoral degree in Psychology at the Department of Psychology and the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University (2014). I studied statistical methods at the ICPSR at the University of Michigan as part of my doctoral training, and did fMRI training at the University of Michigan, as part of my post-doctoral training.

 

Publications

Stenfors, C. U. D., Stengård, J., Klein, Y., Nilsen, I. (2024) The role of greenspace qualities at the nexus of human health and environmental sustainability and resilience to climate change and biodiversity loss. The 28th IAPS International Conference Association for People-environment Studies, Barcelona, 2 – 5 July.

Stenfors, C. U. D., L Rådmark, L., Stengård, J., Klein, Y., Osika, W., Hanson, L. M. (2024) More green, less depressed: Residential greenspace is associated with lower antidepressant redemptions in a nationwide population-based study. Landscape and Urban Planning 249, 105109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105109

Klein, Y., Lindfors, P., Hanson, L. M., & Stenfors, C. U. D. (2024). Development of nature-related habits and their relation to mental health outcomes during two years of the COVID-19 pandemic: A population-based study in Sweden. Journal of Public Health. Preprint: DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/cjndm, https://psyarxiv.com/cjndm

Honk, L., Stenfors, C. U. D., Goldberg, S. B., Hendricks, P. S., Osika, W., Dourron, H. M., Lebedev, A., Petrovic, P. & Simonsson, O. (2024). Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and psychotic symptoms in the United States and the United Kingdom. Journal of Affective Disorders, 351, 194-201. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032724002180

Stenfors, C. U. D. (2023). Vår relation till naturen -  ett nexus för mänsklig, ekologisk och planetär hållbarhet, samt resiliens vid kriser. Socialmedicinsk tidskrift, 100(3), 509-524.
https://socialmedicinsktidskrift.se/index.php/smt/article/view/3043/2859

Simonsson, O, Osika, W, Stenfors, C U D, Goldberg, S, Honk, L, & Hendricks, P. (2023) Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom, In press, Psychological Medicine.

Stenfors, C. U. D, Stengård, J., Osika, W., Hanson, L. M.  The role of residential greenspace qualities and it’s closeness for mental health and sleep outcomes: Results from longitudinal studies on nationwide population-based cohorts in Sweden with fine-grained assessments.
17th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, From Local to Global: Behavior, Climate and Health, Vancouver, Canada, August 23-26, 2023.

Klein, Y, Lindfors, P, Hanson, L M, & Stenfors, C U D. Nature-related habits and their development and relation to mental health outcomes during the covid-19 pandemic: a population-based study in Sweden. 17th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, From Local to Global: Behavior, Climate and Health, Vancouver, Canada, August 23-26, 2023.

Stenfors, C. U. D., Rådmark, L., Stengård, J., Klein, Y., Osika, W., & Hanson, L. M. (2023). More green, less blue: Residential Greenspace is Associated with Lower Antidepressant Redemptions in a Nationwide Population-Based Study—Need for an Environmental Psychiatry Framework. PsyArXiv, DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/k6mev, https://psyarxiv.com/k6mev/

Stenfors C. U. D., Stengård J, Magnusson Hanson L, Kecklund L-G, & Westerlund H. (2023) Green Sleep: Immediate residential greenspace and access to larger green areas are associated with better sleep quality, in a longitudinal population-based cohort. Environmental Research, Vol 234, 116085, ISSN 0013-9351,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.116085

Otto Simonsson, Cecilia U. D. Stenfors, Simon B Goldberg, Peter S Hendricks and Walter Osika (2023) Altered States of Leadership: Mindfulness Meditation, Classic Psychedelics, and Leadership Development, Frontiers in Psychology, 14: 1151626, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1151626, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10354271/

Magnusson Hanson L, Stenfors C.U.D, Wijkander M, Blomqvist S, & Westerlund H (2023) Arbetsmiljön före och under Covid-19 pandemin i ett urval av den arbetande befolkningen i Sverige: The Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health. [Organizational & Psychosocial work environment within the Swedish Labour market during the Corona pandemic]. Original research project and report, commissioned by the Swedish government through the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise, original research report. https://mynak.se/projekt/coronapandemins-paverkan-pa-arbetsmiljo/svenska-data-om-arbetsmiljo-och-halsa-2012-2022-slosh/

Ramstetter L, Rupprecht S, Mundaca L, Osika W, Stenfors C U D., Klackl J, and Wamsler C (2023) Fostering collective climate action and leadership: Insights from a pilot experiment with a behavioral intervention involving mindfulness and compassion, iScience, 26(3), 106191, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223002687

Pöllänen, E.; Osika, W.; Stenfors, C.U.D.; Simonsson, O. (2022) Classic Psychedelics and Human–Animal Relations. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19, 8114. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19138114

Klein, Y., Lindfors, P., Osika, W., Magnusson Hanson, L. L., & Stenfors, C. U. D. (2022). Residential Greenspace Is Associated with Lower Levels of Depressive and Burnout Symptoms, and Higher Levels of Life Satisfaction: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Sweden. Int. J Environ. Res. and Public Health19(9), 5668. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9100967/

Berman, M.G., Stenfors, C.U.D., Schertz, K.E., & Meidenbauer, K.L. (2021). Response to “Conceptual replication study and meta-analysis suggest simulated nature does not reliably restore pure executive attention measured by the Attention Network Task”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 78:101719. ISSN 0272-4944. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101719 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494421001729?via%3Dihub

Stenfors, C.U.D., Magnusson Hanson, L. Leineweber, C. & Westerlund, H. (Feb 2021) "Arbetsförhållanden, levnadsvanor och hälsa före respektive efter Covid-19 pandemins början: En longitudinell kohortstudie av den svenska arbetande befolkningen” ["Working conditions, living habits and health before and after the Covid-19 pandemic: A longitudinal cohort study of Swedish working adults"] Governmental research report.

Lõhmus, M., Stenfors, C.U.D, Lind, T., Lauber, A., & Georgelis, A. (2021). Mental Health, Greenness, and Nature Related Behaviors in the Adult Population of Stockholm County during COVID-19-Related Restrictions. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(6), 3303. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3303

Troije CP, Jensen EL, Stenfors C, Danielsson CB, Hoff E, Mårtensson F and Toivanen S (2021) Outdoor Office Work – An Interactive Research Project Showing the Way Out. Front. Psychol. 12:636091.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636091/full

Andersson; C., Stenfors, C., Lilliengren, P., Einhorn, S. & Osika, W. (2021) Benevolence – Associations with Stress, Mental Health and Self-Compassion at the workplace. Frontiers in Psychology 12:568625. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.568625

Meidenbauer, K., Stenfors, C.U.D., Gregory N. Bratman, G.N., Gross, J.J., Kathryn E. Schertz, K. E., Choe, K.W., Berman, M.G. (2020) The Affective Benefits of Nature Exposure: What’s Nature Got to Do with It? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 101498, ISSN 0272-4944. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494420306630

Open access, final accepted manuscript at: https://psyarxiv.com/92w6f

Stenfors, C.U.D, Van Hedger, S. C., Schertz, K. E., Meyer, F., Smith, K. E., Norman, G., Bourrier, S. C., Enns, J. T., Kardan, O., Jonides, J., & Berman, M. G. (2019) Positive effects of nature on cognitive performance across multiple experiments: Test order but not affect modulates the cognitive effects. Frontiers in Psychology, 10:1413. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01413

Meidenbauer, K.L., Stenfors, C.U.D., Young, J., Layden, E.A., Schertz, K.E., Kardan, O., Decety, J. and Berman, M.G., (2019). The gradual development of the preference for natural environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, p.101328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101328 Open access at: https://psyarxiv.com/7hw83/

Meidenbauer, K.L., Stenfors, C.U.D., Ingram, M., & Berman, M. (2019) A tablet-based task for assessing environmental preferences in children and adults. Methods X, 6, 1901-1906. Open access at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2019.08.002

Petersson C, Toivanen S, Stenfors C, Bodin Danielsson C, Mårtensson F, Hoff E, Lisberg Jensen E. (2019) Outdoor Office Work – hur funkar det? Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF). ISBN: 978-91-7685-016-9

Stenfors, C. (2018). Naturliga vägar till mänsklig, social och ekologisk hållbarhet. Socialmedicinsk tidskrift, 95(2), 141-149. https://socialmedicinsktidskrift.se/index.php/smt/article/view/1749/1635

Persson, J., & Stenfors, C. (2018). Superior cognitive goal maintenance in carriers of genetic markers linked to reduced striatal D2 receptor density (C957T and DRD2/ANKK1-TaqIA). PloS one, 13(8), e0201837. PMID: 30125286.

Bäcklander, G., Rosengren, C., Falkman, L.L., Stenfors, C., Seddigh, A., Osika, W. and Stenström, E. (2018). Navigating the Activity Based Working Environment–Relationships of Self-Leadership, Autonomy and Information Richness with Cognitive Stress and Performance. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology3(1).

Horwitz, E. B., Stenfors, C., & Osika, W. (2018). Writer's Block Revisited: A Micro-Phenomenological Case Study on the Blocking Influence of an Internalized Voice. Journal of Consciousness Studies25(3-4), 9-28.

Stenfors, C., Jonsdottir, I., Magnusson Hanson, L.L., Theorell, T. (2017) Associations between systemic pro-inflammatory markers, cognitive function and cognitive complaints in a population-based sample of working adults. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 96, 49-59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2017.03.010. PMID: 28545793.

Stenfors, C., Theorell, T., Magnusson Hanson, L. & Osika, W. (2016). Executive Cognitive Functioning & Cardiovascular Autonomic Regulation in a Population-Based sample of Working Adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1536. PMID: 27761124.

Seddigh, A, Stenfors, C., Berntson, E, Bååth, R, Sikström, S, & H, Westerlund. (2015) The association between office design and performance on demanding cognitive tasks, Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Stenfors, C, Marklund, P, Hanson, LLM, Theorell, T, Nilsson, L-G. (2014) Are subjective cognitive complaints related to memory functioning in the working population? BMC Psychology, 2:3.

Stenfors C, Marklund P, Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T, Nilsson L-G (2013). Subjective Cognitive Complaints and the Role of Executive Cognitive Functioning in the Working Population: A Case-Control Study. PLoS ONE 8(12): e83351. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083351.

PMID: 24386185.

Stenfors, C, Hanson, LLM, Theorell, T, Oxenstierna, G, & Nilsson, L-G (2013). Psychosocial Working Conditions and Cognitive Complaints among Swedish Employees. PLoS ONE, 8(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060637. PMID: 23560101.

Bojner Horwitz, E, Stenfors, C, and Osika, W. (2013) Contemplative inquiry in movement- Managing writer's block in academic writing. International journal of transpersonal psychology.

Oxenstierna, G, Magnusson Hanson, LL, Widmark, M, Finnholm, K, Stenfors, C, Elofsson, S, and Theorell,T. (2011) Conflicts at Work- The Relationship with Workplace Factors, Work Characteristics and Self-rated Health. Industrial Health, 49:4, pp. 501-510.

 

BOOKS/CHAPTERS

Stenfors C, Bojner Horwitz E, Theorell T, Osika W. (2018) Similarities, disparities, and synergies with other complex interventions. DOI: 10.1093/med/9780198725916.003.0029 . Chapter 4.3. in: Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health - The Role of Nature in Improving the Health of a Population. Editors: M. van den Bosch & W. Bird. Oxford University Press.

https://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780198725916.001.0001/med-9780198725916-chapter-29

The textbook is available as an E-resource at the Stockholm University Library.

Stenfors, C. (2014) Hjärnhälsa- om stress och stärkande aktiviteter. Bokkapitel i Kulturhälsoboxen, red. Eva Bojner Horwitz. Gothia förlag.

Stenfors, C. (2013) Subjective cognitive complaints in the working population- the influence of cognitive functioning and working conditions. Doctoral thesis in Psychology, Stockholm University.

Teaching

My teaching activities include teaching and supervision from basic to advanced level in psychology and environmental medicine, including e.g. research supervision, essay supervision at various levels, teaching in cogntitive psychology, environmental and occupational psychology, stress, neuropsychological testing, and statistical methods.

Research projects

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Altered states of leadership: mindfulness meditation, psychedelic use, and leadership development

    2023. Otto Simonsson (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 14

    Article

    BackgroundPrevious research suggests that mindfulness meditation and psychedelic substances show promise as mental health interventions, but relatively little remains known about their potential impact on leadership outcomes. AimsThis study aimed to investigate if and how mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use may impact leadership among respondents with a management position as their primary role at work. MethodsUsing samples representative of the US and UK adult populations with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine if and how mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use may impact leadership. ResultsAmong respondents with a management position as their primary role at work (n = 3,150), 1,373 reported having tried mindfulness meditation and 559 reported having tried psychedelics. In covariate-adjusted regression analyses, both lifetime number of hours of mindfulness meditation practice and greater psychological insight during respondents' most intense psychedelic experience were associated with describing a positive impact on leadership (ORs = 2.33, 3.49; ps < 0.001), while qualitative analyses revealed nuances in the type of impacts mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use had on leadership. There were several subthemes (e.g., focus, creativity, patience, empathy, compassion) that were frequently reported with both mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use. There were also unique subthemes that were more commonly reported with mindfulness meditation (e.g., improved sleep, stress reduction, calming effects) and psychedelic use (e.g., greater self-understanding, less hierarchical attitudes toward colleagues, positive changes in interpersonal attitudes and behaviors), respectively. ConclusionAlthough causality cannot be inferred due to the research design, the findings in this study suggest potential complementary effects of mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use on leadership, which could inspire new approaches in leadership development.

    Read more about Altered states of leadership
  • Fostering collective climate action and leadership: Insights from a pilot experiment involving mindfulness and compassion

    2023. Lena Ramstetter (et al.). iScience 26 (3)

    Article

    Recent research suggests that mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion relate to inner transformative qualities/capacities and intermediary factors that can support increased pro-environmental behavior and attitudes across individual, collective, organizational, and system levels. However, current insights focus on the individual level, are restricted to certain sustainability fields, and wider experimental evidence is scarce and contradictory. Our pilot study addresses this gap and tests the aforementioned proposition in the context of an intervention: an EU Climate Leadership Program for high-level decision-makers. The intervention was found to have significant effects on transformative qualities/capacities, intermediary factors, and pro-environmental behaviors and engagement across all levels. The picture is, however, more complex for pro-environmental attitudes. With due limitations (e.g., small sample size), this preliminary evidence confirms the feasibility and potential of mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions to foster inner-outer transformation for sustainability and climate action. Aspects that should be taken into account in larger confirmatory trials are discussed.

    Read more about Fostering collective climate action and leadership
  • Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom

    2023. Otto Simonsson (et al.). Psychological Medicine

    Article

    Background. Previous research has proposed that there may be potential synergies between psychedelic and meditation interventions, but there are still knowledge gaps that merit further investigation.Methods. Using a longitudinal observational research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult population with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (N = 9732), we investigated potential associations between self-reported psychedelic use and meditation practice.Results. The follow-up survey was completed by 7667 respondents (79% retention rate), with 100 respondents reporting psychedelic use during the 2-month study period (1.3% of follow-up respondents). In covariate-adjusted regression models, psychedelic use during the study period was associated with greater increases in the number of days of mindfulness meditation practice in the past week (B = 0.40, p = 0.004). Among those who reported psychedelic use during the study period, covariate-adjusted regression models revealed that the subjective experience of insight during respondents' most intense psychedelic experience in that period was also associated with greater increases in the number of days of mindfulness and loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice in the past week (B = 0.42, p = 0.021; B = 0.38, p = 0.017). Notably, more days of loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice in the past week at baseline was associated with less severe subjective feelings of death or dying during respondents' most intense psychedelic experience in the study period (B = -0.29, p = 0.037).Conclusions. Psychedelic use might lead to greater engagement with meditation practices such as mindfulness meditation, while meditation practices such as loving-kindness or compassion medication might buffer against certain challenging experiences associated with psychedelic use.

    Read more about Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom
  • Nature-related habits and their development and relation to mental health outcomes during the covid-19 pandemic: a population-based study in Sweden

    2023. Yannick Klein (et al.). International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 136

    Conference

    Background: Mental health disorders represent a major public health concern, and significantly contribute to the global burden of disease. The Covid-19 pandemic posed additional challenges for mental health. Spending time in natural environments has been linked to numerous health benefits.

    Purpose: Therefore, the present study investigated the role of different types of nature-related habits for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and their development during the pandemic 2019–2022, in Sweden. Further, we investigated whether nature habits could buffer negative effects of major life events on mental health outcomes (MHO).

    Method: Different types of nature-related habits, symptoms of depression, anxiety, loneliness, major life events, and control variables were assessed via self-report measures, in a sub-sample of respondents to the Swedish Occupational Survey of Health, in 2021 (n = 1 896), and 2022 (n = 1 579). Sequential linear regressions were conducted to analyze relationships between nature-related habits and MHO, while controlling for demographics, SES, relationship status, and pre-pandemic MHO.

    Results: Spending time in nature was consistently associated with fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and loneliness during the pandemic after adjusting for control variables. Especially spending time in forest and garden environments were associated with better mental health. Spending time in garden environments buffered effects of major life events on symptoms of depression and anxiety, but not loneliness. Increased nature habits during the pandemic related to improved MHO.

    Conclusions: Spending time in natural environments during the Covid-19 pandemic led to better MHO, with implications for urban development and public health promotion.

    Read more about Nature-related habits and their development and relation to mental health outcomes during the covid-19 pandemic
  • The role of residential greenspace qualities and it’s closeness for mental health and sleep outcomes: Results from longitudinal studies on nationwide population-based cohorts in Sweden with fine-grained assessments

    2023. Cecilia U. D. Stenfors (et al.). International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 136

    Conference

    Background: Mental health and sleeping problems are public health concerns associated with vast costs for society and individuals. Exposure and access to natural environments in terms of greenspace (vegetation) are associated with a range of benefits such as enhanced affect and cognition, and decreased stress. However, population-based studies investigating high-resolution, individual-level residential greenspace are yet lacking, as population-based studies have mainly assessed greenspace at the level of larger areas rather than the individual level. Furthermore, studies on residential greenspace and sleep are scarce.

    Objective & methods: Thus, in a set of large-scale population-based longitudinal studies, on nationwide cohorts in Sweden, objective high-resolution individual-level residential greenspace land cover assessments were made and the role of different greenspace qualities were investigated longitudinally for: 1) self-reported sleeping problems (n = 19 375), 2) objective prescription medication purchase in terms of a) insomnia medications and b) antidepressants (n = 99 036), while controlling for individual and neighbourhood confounders. Multilevel and generalized estimating equation models were conducted to estimate effects.

    Results: Results across studies showed that more residential greenspace primarily in the immediate residential surrounding (50 m and 100 m buffer zones around home) is associated with 1) less sleeping problems, and 2) lower risk of purchasing insomnia and antidepressant prescription medications. Furthermore, among physically active, greenspace further from home also associated with less sleeping problems.

    Conclusions: Results highlight the role of greenspace in the immediate residential surroundings for mental health and sleep outcomes, and the importance of integrating health-, environmental-, urban development- and greening policies, also mitigating climate change.

    Read more about The role of residential greenspace qualities and it’s closeness for mental health and sleep outcomes
  • Classic Psychedelics and Human–Animal Relations

    2022. Elin Pöllänen (et al.). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (13)

    Article

    Previous research has found associations between classic psychedelic use and nature-relatedness, but the link between classic psychedelic use and human–animal relations remains largely unexplored. Using data representative of the US adult population, with regard to age, sex and ethnicity (N = 2822), this pre-registered study assessed lifetime classic psychedelic use, ego dissolution during respondents’ most intense experience using a classic psychedelic, and three measures related to human–animal relations: speciesism, animal solidarity and desire to help animals. The results showed that lifetime classic psychedelic use was negatively associated with speciesism (β = −0.07, p = 0.002), and positively associated with animal solidarity (β = 0.04, p = 0.041), but no association was found with desire to help animals (β = 0.01, p = 0.542). Ego dissolution during the respondents’ most intense experience using a classic psychedelic was negatively associated with speciesism (β = −0.17, p < 0.001), and positively associated with animal solidarity (β = 0.18, p < 0.001) and desire to help animals (β = 0.10, p = 0.007). The findings indicate that classic psychedelics and ego dissolution may have an impact on human–animal relations. As these results cannot demonstrate causality, however, future studies should use longitudinal research designs to further explore the potential causal link between classic psychedelic use and human–animal relations.

    Read more about Classic Psychedelics and Human–Animal Relations
  • Residential Greenspace Is Associated with Lower Levels of Depressive and Burnout Symptoms, and Higher Levels of Life Satisfaction: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Sweden

    2022. Yannick Klein (et al.). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (9)

    Article

    Population-based studies of individual-level residential greenspace and mental health outcomes are still limited. Thus, the present study investigates greenspace–mental health associations—including depressive symptoms, burnout symptoms, and life satisfaction—in a population-based sample of adults, the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, in 2016 (n = 14,641). High-resolution land cover of greenspace and green–blue-space was assessed at 50, 100, 300 and 500 m buffers around residential addresses. Higher residential greenspace and green–blue-space were associated with lower levels of depressive and burnout symptoms among non-working individuals and with higher life satisfaction in the whole study population, after controlling for age, sex, individual income, and neighborhood socioeconomics. The immediate residential-surrounding environment (50 m) consistently showed the strongest associations with the outcomes. Having a partner was associated with better mental health outcomes and with having more residential greenspace, and adjusting for this rendered greenspace–health associations mostly statistically non-significant. In conclusion, higher levels of greenspace and green–blue-space in the immediate residential-surrounding environment were associated with better mental health outcomes in the present study, which contributes additional nuances to prior studies. The importance of residential greenspace for public health, urban planning, and development is discussed.

    Read more about Residential Greenspace Is Associated with Lower Levels of Depressive and Burnout Symptoms, and Higher Levels of Life Satisfaction
  • Benevolence - Associations With Stress, Mental Health, and Self-Compassion at the Workplace

    2021. Christina Andersson (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 12

    Article

    Objective: Benevolence is an emerging concept in motivation theory and research as well as in on pro-social behavior, which has stimulated increasing interest in studying factors that impair or facilitate benevolence and effects thereof. This exploratory study examines the associations between benevolence, stress, mental health, self-compassion, and satisfaction with life in two workplace samples.

    Methods: In the first study n = 522 (38% = female, median age = 42) participants answered questionnaires regarding self-reported stress symptoms (i.e., emotional exhaustion), depressive symptoms and benevolence. In the second study n = 49 (female = 96%) participants answered questionnaires regarding perceived stress, self-compassion, anxiety, depression symptoms, and benevolence.

    Results: In study 1, measures of emotional exhaustion (r = −0.295) and depression (r = −0.190) were significantly negatively correlated with benevolence. In study 2, benevolence was significantly negatively correlated with stress (r = −0.392) and depression (r = −0.310), whereas self-compassion (0.401) was significantly positively correlated with benevolence. While correlations were in expected directions, benevolence was not significantly associated with Satisfaction with Life (r = 0.148) or anxiety (r = −0.199) in study 2.

    Conclusion: Self-assessed benevolence is associated with levels of perceived stress, exhaustion, depression, and self-compassion. Future studies are warranted on how benevolence is related to stress and mental ill health such as depression and anxiety, and if benevolence can be trained in order to decrease stress and mental ill health such as depression and anxiety in workplace settings.

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  • Mental Health, Greenness, and Nature Related Behaviors in the Adult Population of Stockholm County during COVID-19-Related Restrictions

    2021. Mare Lõhmus (et al.). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 (6)

    Article

    International data suggest that exposure to nature is beneficial for mental health and well-being. The restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have created a setting that allows us to investigate the importance of greenness exposure on mental health during a period of increased isolation and worry. Based on 2060 responses from an online survey in Stockholm County, Sweden, we investigated: (1) whether the COVID-19 pandemic changed peoples' lifestyle and nature-related habits, and (2) if peoples' mental health differed depending on their exposure to greenness. Neighborhood greenness levels were quantified by using the average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within 50 m, 100 m, 300 m, and 500 m buffers surrounding the participant's place of residence. We found that the number of individuals that reported that they visited natural areas "often" was significantly higher during the pandemic than before the pandemic. Higher levels of greenness surrounding one's location of residence were in general associated with higher mental health/well-being and vitality scores, and less symptoms of depression, anxiety, and perceived and cognitive stress, after adjustments for demographic variables and walkability. In conclusion, the results from the present study provided support to the suggestion that contact with nature may be important for mental health in extreme circumstances.

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  • Outdoor Office Work

    2021. Charlotte Petersson Troije (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 12

    Article

    The physical boundaries of office work have become increasingly flexible. Work is conducted at multiple locations outside the office, such as at clients' premises, at home, in cafés, or when traveling. However, the boundary between indoor and outdoor environment seems to be strong and normative regarding how office work is performed. The aim of this study was to explore how office work may be conducted outdoors, understanding how it is being experienced by office employees and identifying its contextual preconditions. Based on a two-year interactive research project, the study was conducted together with a Swedish municipality. Fifty-eight participants engaged in the collaborative learning process, including 40 half-day workshops and reflective group discussions, co-interviews, and participants' independent experimentation of bringing work activities outdoors. Data was collected via interviews, group discussions and a custom-made mobile application. The results showed that a wide range of work activities could be done outdoors, both individually and in collaboration with others. Outdoor work activities were associated with many positive experiences by contributing to a sense of well-being, recovery, autonomy, enhanced cognition, better communication, and social relations, but also with feelings of guilt and illegitimacy. Conditions of importance for outdoor office work to happen and function well were found in the physical environment, where proximity to urban greenspaces stood out as important, but also in the sociocultural and organizational domains. Of crucial importance was managers' attitudes, as well as the overall organizational culture on this idea of bringing office work outdoors. To conclude, if working life is to benefit from outdoor office work, leaders, urban planners and policymakers need to collaborate and show the way out.

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  • The affective benefits of nature exposure

    2020. Kimberly L. Meidenbauer (et al.). Journal of Environmental Psychology 72

    Article

    Nature interactions have been demonstrated to produce reliable affective benefits. While adults demonstrate strong preferences for natural environments over urban ones, it is not clear whether these affective benefits result from exposure to nature stimuli per se, or result from viewing a highly preferred stimulus. In one set of studies (Study 1 and 2), state affect before and after image viewing was examined as a function of both preference level (high, low, very high, or very low aesthetic value) and environment type (nature or urban). When aesthetic value was matched, no differences in affect change were found between environments. However, affect change was predicted by individual participants' ratings for the images. The largest affective benefits occurred after viewing very high aesthetic nature images, but Study 2 lacked an equivalently preferred urban image set. In a second set of studies (Study 3 and 4), new sets of very highly preferred images in categories other than nature scenes (urban scenes and animals) were employed. As before, individual differences in preference for the images (but not image category) was predictive of changes in affect. In Study 5, the nature and urban images from Study 1 were rated on beauty to assess whether the stimuli's preference ratings were capturing anything other than simple aesthetics. Results showed that beauty/aesthetics and preference ('liking') were nearly identical. Lastly, a replication of Study 2 (Study 6) was conducted to test whether priming preference accounted for these benefits, but this was not the case. Together, these results suggest that nature improves affective state because it is such a highly preferred environment.

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  • Positive Effects of Nature on Cognitive Performance Across Multiple Experiments

    2019. Cecilia U. D. Stenfors (et al.). Frontiers in Psychology 10

    Article

    Interactions with natural environments and nature-related stimuli have been found to be beneficial to cognitive performance, in particular on executive cognitive tasks with high demands on directed attention processes. However, results vary across different studies. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effects of nature vs. urban environments on cognitive performance across all of our published and new/unpublished studies testing the effects of different interactions with nature vs. urban/built control environments, on an executive-functioning test with high demands on directed attention-the backwards digit span (BDS) task. Specific aims in this study were to: (1) evaluate the effect of nature vs. urban environment interactions on BDS across different exposure types (e.g., real-world vs. artificial environments/stimuli); (2) disentangle the effects of testing order (i.e., effects caused by the order in which experimental conditions are administered) from the effects of the environment interactions, and (3) test the (mediating) role of affective changes on BDS performance. To this end, data from 13 experiments are presented, and pooled data-analyses are performed. Results from the pooled data-analyses (N = 528 participants) showed significant time-by-environment interactions with beneficial effects of nature compared to urban environments on BDS performance. There were also clear interactions with the order in which environment conditions were tested. Specifically, there were practice effects across environment conditions in first sessions. Importantly, after parceling out initial practice effects, the positive effects of nature compared to urban interactions on BDS performance were magnified. Changes in positive or negative affect did not mediate the beneficial effects of nature on BDS performance. These results are discussed in relation to the findings of other studies identified in the literature. Uncontrolled and confounding order effects (i.e., effects due to the order of experimental conditions, rather than the treatment conditions) may explain some of the inconsistent findings across studies the literature on nature effects on cognitive performance. In all, these results highlight the robustness of the effects of natural environments on cognition, particularly when confounding order effects have been considered, and provide a more nuanced account of when a nature intervention will be most effective.

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  • Outdoor Office Work – hur funkar det?

    2019. Charlotte Petersson (et al.). Outdoor Office Work – hur funkar det?, 119-120

    Conference

    Bakgrund

    Arbetslivet flexibiliseras och blir allt mer gränslöst, en utveckling som innebär såväl möjligheter som utmaningar. Inte minst arbetets fysiska rum är satt i förändring då allt fler arbetsplatser organiseras utifrån aktivitetsbaserade kontorslösningar. Det blir även allt vanligare att kontorsanställda arbetar från alternativa platser, såsom i hemmet, på caféer, tåg och bussar. Ökad flexibilisering och gränslöshet till trots tycks dock tröskeln mellan inne och ute fortfarande vara hög när det kommer till kontorsarbete och -arbetsplatser. Dessutom lever allt fler i städer och tillbringar merparten av tiden inomhus, mer separerade från naturen än någonsin. Forskningen om naturens positiva effekter på människors hälsa och välbefinnande har exploderat de senaste åren. Denna forskning undersöker exempelvis effekter av utomhusvistelse på tillstånd som stress, kliniska depressioner och utbrändhet, men även återhämtning, koncentration, lärande och livskvalitet. Utifrån de utmaningar som finns i arbetslivet, inte minst den utbredda psykiska ohälsan, finns behov av att utveckla ett mer reflekterat förhållningssätt till hur vi ser på och organiserar arbete, där möjligheter till återhämtning tillgodoses, även under arbetsdagen. Då allt fler arbetar med vad som kan kallas kunskapsintensivt tjänstearbete står denna typ av arbete i fokus för vår studie. I detta projekt, det interaktiva forskningsprojektet ’StickUt Malmö’, utforskas möjliga former för att bedriva kontorsarbete utomhus.

    Syfte

    Inom ramen för ’StickUt Malmö’ utforskas arbetets former och normer med fokus på den urbana utemiljöns potential att bidra till ett mer innovativt och hållbart arbetsliv. De övergripande forskningsfrågorna handlar om att identifiera vilka olika typiska arbetsaktiviteter som kan utföras utomhus, samt undersöka hur de upplevs, samt att förstå förutsättningarna – vad som hindrar, respektive möjliggör, att arbetet utförs utomhus.

    Metod

    Utforskandet bedrivs i form av en kollaborativ lärprocess baserad på kvalitativa metoder som par-intervjuer och gruppsamtal, samt inrapporteringen via en mobil-app. Cirka femtio tjänstemän från fem förvaltningar inom Malmö stad (Stadsbyggnadskontoret, Kulturförvaltningen, Miljöförvaltningen, Fastighets- och gatukontoret och HR-strategiska avdelningen) deltar aktivt i en process med att testa olika former för att arbeta utomhus under en femtonmånadersperiod. Deltagarnas upplevelser och reflektioner står i centrum för lärprocessen, vilken är uppbyggd kring sju lärmoduler (halvdagar med respektive deltagargrupp), varvid deltagarnas erfarenheter följs upp vid gruppsamtalen och par-intervjuerna, som dokumenteras och kodas i enlighet med kvalitativa metoder. Deltagarna är delaktiga under hela lärprocessen och bidrar till analysen och en djupare förståelse av de resultat som genereras undervägs. StickUt Malmö drivs av och utgör grunden för Peterssons pågående avhandlingsarbete och övriga medförfattare utgör projektets vetenskapliga råd. Lisberg Jensen och Toivanen är även handledare. I samband med att StickUt Malmö går mot sitt slut (31/8-2019) håller de initiala, empiriska, resultaten på att sammanställas.

    Resultat

    Det empiriska materialet visar att det är möjligt såväl som givande att utföra flera olika arbetsaktiviteter utomhus. Formerna för att arbeta utomhus rymmer såväl individuella- som gruppaktiviteter. Det som ligger närmast till hands för deltagarna är de mindre, informella mötena. Även större utemöten förekommer, men mer sällan då de kräver mer planering och förutsättningar i utemiljön. De individuella formerna rymmer allt från inspirations- och reflektionspromenader, till att sitta ute, ofta på arbetsplatsens innergård. Läsning lämpar sig utmärkt för att ta med ut, medan att jobba vid datorn upplevs välfungerande för somliga och av andra inte. Deltagarna upplever sig bli pigga, glada, produktiva och kreativa, och även lugna, avstressade och reflexiva. Några framträdande teman är en stark känsla av att kunna tänka respektive andas. En annan genomgående aspekt rör en positiv känsla av frihet; att få bestämma själv. Ytterligare en återkommande dimension rör relationer och samtal – att de upplevs bli annorlunda, mer öppna och jämlika, när de förs (i synnerhet gående) utomhus. Till utomhusarbetets utmaningar och förutsättningar hör en del praktiska saker som behöver finnas på plats, framförallt om det ska fungera väl att sitta och arbeta och i synnerhet om det är flera personer som ska mötas, som behov av vind- och solskydd, flera, samlade sittplatser och dylikt. När det gäller gående former av utearbete rör de främst tillgång till och kunskap om var gröna och tillräckligt lugna promenadstråk finns. De största hindren tycks dock vara av mindre praktisk karaktär, då deltagarnas främsta problem har varit att få utomhusarbetet att bli av, det vill säga att förändra sina vanor. Det spelade även en stor roll hur deltagarna uppfattade sina chefers, och i viss mån kollegors, inställning till att ’vara på plats’. Det största hindret för utomhusarbete tycks bo i rådande normer kring arbete, då det ofta upplevs som mindre legitimt att arbeta utomhus. Deltagarna gav uttryck för skuldkänslor, såsom att de kände sig busiga, skyldiga och som att de smet ifrån, och reflekterade över att detta gällde trots att de gjorde samma sak som de annars skulle ha gjort inomhus, nämligen arbetade. De preliminära resultaten visar alltså att det framstår som fullt möjligt att bedriva diverse arbetsaktiviteter utomhus och att deltagarna ger uttryck för flera positiva upplevelser, inte minst på välbefinnandet i stort och mer specifikt på förmågan att tänka och samtala. För att potentialen i utevistelsen ska tillvaratas och på sikt bidra till ett mer hållbart och innovativt arbetsliv behöver dock kunskapen om förutsättningarna fördjupas. Individuella behov och preferenser måste beaktas, inte minst vad gäller funktionsvariationer av olika slag, men även gränssättningsstrategier, organisatoriska och ledningsmässiga förhållanden. Även aspekter i den fysiska utemiljön måste tas i beaktande, inte minst möjligheterna att exponeras för naturelement såsom grönska, vatten, vind och fågelkvitter. Det flexibla arbetslivet innebär såväl utmaningar och problem som möjligheter. Efter att projektet går mot sitt slut i augusti 2019 behandlas det stora insamlade empiriska materialet vidare för vetenskaplig publicering.

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Show all publications by Cecilia Stenfors at Stockholm University