Associations between real-time, self-reported adolescent mental health and urban and architectural design concepts

ABSTRACT

Urban environments influence mental health and development of younger populations. Around 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin at or prior to the age of 14 years old, and global urbanization trends are forecasted to continue into the coming decades, making links between urban spaces and youth mental health especially important. Little extant research explores links between urban environments, and especially distinct urban design exposures, and adolescent (ages 9–17) mental health. This study uses on-site, ecological momentary assessment (i.e. real-time) surveys and adjusted linear mixed models to explore associations between adolescent (n = 70) mental health indicators and multiple pedestrian design and architecture concepts. Results indicated several significant associations. Notably, spaces high in complexity (visual richness), imageability (distinctiveness), and enclosure (room-like quality) tended to support positive affect. Additionally, mixed built-natural spaces scoring high in scale (pedestrian amenities) and complexity appeared to increase calmness and mitigate anxiousness, while biophilic architecture (nature in built design) seemed to support perceived restorativeness. Practice implications include recommendations for planners to consider implementing natural forms of enclosure (e.g. tall trees), imageability (e.g. natural landmarks), and/or complexity (e.g. variety of gardens/shrubs) in or around spaces frequented by adolescents (e.g. schoolyards) to promote psychological well-being, and design socially supportive environments.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• ecological momentary assessment
• mental health
• planning
• urban design

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2286741

Notes

1. Areas featuring higher speed limits, wider roads, and less street furniture (e.g. benches, planters) for pedestrians may be disorienting for pedestrians (low/poor human scale), whereas places that contain safety signs, narrower streets, and more street furniture for pedestrian usage could enhance their comfort (high/strong human scale) (Kay 1998).

2. Participants in a related go-along interview study (Buttazzoni et al. 2022) were likewise required to have six months of residency in the community. Our research team found this residency period was sufficient to facilitate in-depth interviews and ensure that participants felt comfortable with the environments that they were assessing, therefore we replicated this requirement for the present study.

3. Interpretation notes: Coefficient (β) – reflects the mean change in the dependent variable (outcome) given a one unit change in the independent (predictor) variable – in this case the setting (given that each setting was represented by a dummy variable); Coefficient (β) Direction – either positive or negative, wherein a positive β (e.g. .331) indicates an increase in an outcome in response to a one unit change in the predictor and negative β (e.g. −.468) indicates a decrease in an outcome in response to a one unit increase in the predictor; Confidence Intervals (CIs) – the range that the coefficient estimate is expected to fall within, this is a metric that conveys how precise the estimate is (i.e. wider CI = less precise, tighter CI = more precise); 95% CI − 95% confidence interval indicates that approximately 95 of 100 hypothetical CIs computed for this sample will contain the true mean value.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [175348].

Notes on contributors

Adrian Buttazzoni

Adrian Buttazzoni is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. His research takes an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to combine geography, planning, public health, and environmental psychology to explore urban design and health phenomena via qualitative and quantitative primary research methods and systematic reviews. Specific areas of study include universal and accessible environmental design, youth health, placemaking processes, housing and health, active transportation, and community health promotion initiatives.

Leia Minaker

Leia Minaker is an Associate Professor, and the Director of the Future Cities Initiative, in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. Her research expertise includes healthy cities, urban planning and health, healthy environments for chronic disease prevention, food systems, food environments, and nutrition, health equity, and population health intervention research. She also regularly works in interdisciplinary teams that collaborate with knowledge users (including governmental and civil society organizations) to produce impactful research.