The Therapeutic Value of Campus Landscape to University Students’ Mental Well-being: Evidence from a Chinese University

Keywords: University Campus, Student, Mental Well-being, Landscape, Therapeutic Landscape
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 6

Abstract

Mental health issues are becoming increasingly prevalent among university students, yet many of them choose not to consult with professionals for help. This highlights the passive strategies that could improve the students’ mental well-being. In particular, drawing from the literature on “therapeutic landscape,” campus landscape could have a passive restorative effect as it is an indispensable part of students’ daily experiences. Understanding the effects of campus landscape on students’ mental well-being has important policy implications for both university administration and planning. To address this question, we surveyed students in a Chinese university in the spring of 2021. The survey invitations were sent to all the second-year students and approximately 2,500 students completed the survey with a response rate of 44%. The questionnaire included two measures on mental well-being (stress and overall happiness), whether or not students have frequently visited multiple sites of campus landscape, the associated motivations, as well as students’ backgrounds (e.g., sex, fields of study, academic performance, family socioeconomic status). Preliminary findings suggest that landscape visits have significant and strong associations with students’ mental well-being. The effects hold for both stress and happiness and after controlling students’ backgrounds. Moreover, we find the therapeutic effects of landscape varied across individual sites, suggesting not all the landscape types have an equal impact. Understanding what types of landscape and activities are more effective in providing therapeutic values can better inform future campus designs.