Exposure assessment and emotional well-being during daily travel

Keywords: exposure, ecological momentary assessment, mobility, air pollution, green space, mental health, well-being
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 36

Abstract

During everyday travel, people are exposed to various unpleasant environmental factors such as air pollution, inclement weather, noise, as well as pleasant factors such as greenery and water. Each of these factors was found to affect mental health, but a holistic assessment of all factors is still rare, especially in the US context. On the other hand, assessment of mood has often been done through a single-time, retrospective survey that does not take into account mood variation during the day and the week. Here, we proposed an assessment framework that takes into account the exposure to multiple environmental factors on various transportation modes during everyday travel. We used the ecological momentary assessment approach to measure mood and daily mobility during two weeks in Columbus, Ohio, and a follow-up online survey to measure mental health outcomes. We coupled the participants’ activity space, mode of transportation, and corresponding air pollution, weather, green and blue space data to assess exposure during travel. We will use multilevel models to quantify the impacts of exposure on emotional well-being. The results of this study will contribute to the literature on exposure assessment, mental health and air quality, and transportation well-being. The study will inform urban practitioners and policy makers in designing healthy urban environments, planning for land use and transportation, as well as ways to mitigate the harmful impacts of air pollution.