Shifting from car to walking, cycling, or public transport increases physical activity and decreases traffic-related emissions. However, many commutes with healthier transportation options are still undertaken by private cars, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of the factors associated with commuting modal shift. By linking individual-level survey data with grid-based data on the residential environment, we examined the relative importance of factors associated with reduced car commuting from 2020 to 2022 among 4464 Finnish public sector employees using dominance analysis. While the overall predictive power of the analysis was low, shorter average commute length, lower proportion of green areas, being a non-smoker, higher proportion of households without a car, shorter distance to the nearest grocery shop, less car ownership, higher total physical activity, and lower body mass index emerged as the most important factors. Results suggest that residential environment, health, and health behaviours only explain a small proportion of the total variance in a shift towards healthier commuting. Future studies should explore the role of individual psychosocial factors and workplace environment characteristics in explaining modal shifts in commuting within Nordic countries.

Private forest owners face conflicting pressures regarding management of their forests, including producing timber for the forest industry, preserving biodiversity, and enhancing carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. At the same time, climate change poses a threat to the viability of forests. It is poorly known how these pressures affect the mental well-being of forest owners. We used a Finnish forest owner survey (N = 1224) to examine whether distress due to public demands regarding forest management is associated with symptoms of anxiety. We also examined which factors are associated with worry about the climate change impacts on own forests. Distress due to public demands on forest management was not associated with symptoms of anxiety. Only stress due to the invasion of Russia into Ukraine was associated with symptoms of anxiety. Having multiple objectives as a forest owner, being female gender, and having higher education were associated with worry about the climate change impacts on own forests. In conclusion, distress due to public demands regarding forest management may not be associated with forest owners’ anxiety symptoms. Worry about the climate change impacts on own forests may be partly explained by higher awareness regarding the various possibilities that forests can offer.

Background  Regular active commuting – that is, walking or cycling to work – can improve cardiometabolic health and physical fitness among employed adults. This study aimed to examine whether regular active commuting is also associated with perceived cognitive function (memory function, learning ability, and concentration) and work ability. To explore potential differences across physical activity domains, these relationships were additionally assessed for leisure-time physical activity.Methods  This study was based on cross-sectional data from the nationally representative FinHealth 2017 Study. Employed participants were categorised based on their commuting and leisure-time physical activity behaviour as either active or passive commuters and as sedentary, recreationally active, or exercisers and athletes, respectively. Covariate-adjusted quasi-Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). For active commuting, dose-response analyses were also performed.Results  Among Finnish employed adults (N = 3525; mean age 45 years; 51% female), active commuting was not associated with perceived memory function, concentration, or work ability. However, active commuters had a 17% lower risk of suboptimal perceived learning ability compared to passive commuters (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.70–0.99). In dose-response analyses, the association was observed only for lower volumes of active commuting (< 15 min a day; RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50–0.89). Regarding leisure-time physical activity, exercisers and athletes had a 52% lower risk of suboptimal memory function (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.38–0.60), a 54% lower risk of suboptimal learning ability (RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.36–0.60), a 49% lower risk of suboptimal concentration (RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.39–0.67), and a 65% lower risk of suboptimal work ability (RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.26–0.47) compared to sedentary adults. Similar associations were observed for recreationally active adults.Conclusions  Active commuting was associated with better perceived learning ability, suggesting that its benefits may extend to brain health. Leisure-time physical activity may have even greater potential for enhancing cognitive function and work ability among employed adults.

We examined how climate worry, societal and individual efficacy-based climate hope (as a meaning-focused coping strategy), and pro-environmental behavior (PEB; as a problem-focused coping strategy) are related to mental health, namely, depressive and anxiety symptoms. We also studied whether efficacy-based climate hope or PEB (as a problem-focused coping strategy) moderate the association between climate worry and mental health problems. Furthermore, we examined whether PEB, when combined with efficacy-based climate hope, served as a protective factor for mental health. We investigated these associations among Finnish adults (N = 5701) from the ten largest cities in Finland. High levels of climate worry were associated with greater likelihood of experiencing more severe depressive (odds ratio (OR) 1.39, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.69) and anxiety (OR 1.91, 95 % CI 1.52–2.40) symptoms than low levels of climate worry. Low levels of societal efficacy-based hope were associated with greater likelihood of experiencing more severe depressive (OR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.04–1.69) and anxiety (OR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.02–1.58) symptoms than high levels of societal efficacy-based climate hope. Neither efficacy-based climate hope nor PEB moderated the association between climate worry and mental health. However, individual efficacy-based climate hope moderated the association between PEB and both mental health outcomes. Among those who showed more engagement in PEB, lower levels of individual efficacy-based hope were associated with greater odds of experiencing depressive and anxiety symptoms, in comparison to those who showed more PEB and had higher levels of hope. Although climate worry was related to mental health symptoms in our study, we suggest that the focus of psychological adaptation to climate crisis should not be on eliminating worry, but on finding a way to channel it. Based on our findings, it is possible that a coping strategy integrating behavioral engagement with climate hope may support planetary health by mitigating mental health impacts of climate crisis while simultaneously strengthening commitment to climate change mitigation.

Background  Numerous studies on work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic link it to reduced physical activity, increased alcohol use, and weight gain, mainly under stringent pandemic restrictions. We investigated whether changes in work-from-home levels from pre to late pandemic are associated with health behaviours during the late pandemic, controlling for family and work factors.Methods  Using 8195 participants from the 2022 wave of the Swedish Longitudinal Survey of Health, we used logistic regression to analyze the associations between changes in the amount of remote work from pre-pandemic to late pandemic, and physical inactivity, problem drinking, and obesity. Models were first adjusted for age and sex; then for civil status, having children under the age of 12 years at home, and occupation; and finally for job stress, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict.Results  Individuals who decreased work from home had 17% higher odds of being physically inactive (fully adjusted model OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.00–1.37) compared to those who did not change their amount of work from home. Changes in work from home were not statistically significantly associated with problem drinking or obesity. However, there was a tendency for those who decreased work from home to have higher odds of obesity (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.94–1.24), although the association did not reach statistical significance.Conclusions  These findings suggest, although the associations were weak, that work from home could offer opportunities for individuals to be more conscious of their health and to engage in healthier behaviours.