Holli-Anne Passmore

The Nature of Happiness: Nature Affiliation and Mental Well-Being

It has been over 25 years since E. O. Wilson (Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1984) wrote Biophilia, in which he argued for an evolved inclination among humans to affiliate with nature. Psychologists have examined both restorative and additive effects of nature-related experiences on health and well-being. We review correlational and experimental studies showing associations between nature affiliation (or nature immersion) and positive markers of mental health. The research evidence converges on the conclusion that nature involvement is good for us. We discuss future lines of research concerning mediators and moderators of the relationship between nature and well-being, the role of technologically mediated nature experiences, and the development of nature-related interventions aimed at boosting well-being.

Flourishing Among Children and Adolescents: Structure and Correlates of Positive Mental Health, and Interventions for Its Enhancement

Past research on child and adolescent mental health has focused upon outcomes characterized by the absence of ill-health, such as the absence of substance abuse or depression. In contrast to this pathology or deficit model, we review research focused upon positive indicators of youth mental health, such as the presence of happiness or engagement. We first describe the complete state and dual-factor models of mental health, in which mental health and mental disorder are viewed as separate but (inversely) related dimensions of functioning. We then review evidence in support of these conceptualizations. Next, we examine predictors of youth’s scores on the mental health dimension of functioning, such as need satisfaction, character strengths, benefit finding, engagement, and nature involvement. We then turn to interventions aimed at boosting scores on the mental health dimension, including hope-enhancing interventions and those emphasizing mindfulness and gratitude expression. We conclude by examining additional conceptualizations of the interplay of mental health and mental disorder dimensions of functioning in youth, and offer suggestions for areas of future investigation.

Hounds and Homesickness: The Effects of an Animal-assisted Therapeutic Intervention for First-Year University Students

ABSTRACT Transitioning from high school to university can prove to be a for midable challenge for many first-year students, with many experiencing home sickness. Given that students who experience homesickness are more likely than their non-homesick cohorts to drop out of university, universities have a vested interest in supporting students during their first-year transition. Programs that provide opportunities for human–animal interactions on campus are gaining popularity as one way of increasing students’ wellbeing. The current study examined the effects of an 8-week animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program on first-year university students’ wellbeing. An initial feasibility study (n = 86) was conducted that provided opportunities for students to interact, in small groups, with trained therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers. Results indicated that this program reduced participants’ levels of homesickness and increased their satisfaction with life. An experimental study was then conducted utilizing a similar 8-week group AAT program. Participants (n = 44) were assigned to either a treatment condition (i.e., the AAT program) or to a no-treatment condition (akin to a wait-list control). At the end of the eight weeks, participants in the AAT program reported greater reductions in homesickness and greater increases in satisfaction with life than did those in the no-treatment condition. From beginning to end of the program, participants in the treatment group evidenced reductions in homesickness and increases in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus, while participants in the no-treatment condition evidenced an increase in homesickness and no changes in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus. Results of both the feasibility study and the experimental study support the use of AAT programs to increase the wellbeing of first-year university students experiencing homesickness.

Eco-Existential Positive Psychology: Experiences in Nature, Existential Anxieties, and Well-Being

Numerous scholars have explored the notion that our relationship with nature is essential to our well-being, and some have suggested that we have an evolved inclination to affiliate with nature. A substantial body of research supports these hypotheses, and demonstrates both the restorative and additive capacity of affiliating with nature. This article posits that experiences with the natural environment play a fundamentally important role in addressing the 6 existential anxieties of identity, happiness, isolation, meaning in life, freedom, and death—a perspective that we call Eco-Existential Positive Psychology. Moreover, we propose that affiliating with nature affords us the opportunity to be fully flourishing human beings. This article provides supporting evidence for Eco-Existential Positive Psychology via an interdisciplinary literature review.

Noticing nature: Individual and social benefits of a two-week intervention

Abstract We examined the effects of a two-week nature-based well-being intervention. Undergraduates (N = 395) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: nature, human-built or a business-as-usual control. Participants paid attention to how nature (or human-built objects, depending on assignment) in their everyday surroundings made them feel, photographed the objects/scenes that evoked emotion in them and provided a description of emotions evoked. Post-intervention levels of net positive affect, elevating experiences, a general sense of connectedness (to other people, to nature and to life as a whole) and prosocial orientation were significantly higher in the nature group compared to the human-built and control groups. Trait levels of nature connectedness and engagement with beauty did not moderate nature’s beneficial impact on well-being. Qualitative findings revealed significant differences in the emotional themes evoked by nature vs. human-built objects/scenes. This research provides important empirical support for nature involvement as an effective positive psychology intervention.

Elicited Awe Decreases Aggression

Awe is a feeling of wonder and amazement in response to experiencing something so vast that it transcends ones current frames of reference. Across three experiments (N = 557), we tested the inhibition effect of awe on aggression. We used a narrative recall task paradigm (Studies 1 and 2) and a video (Study 3) to induce the emotion of awe. After inducing awe, we first examined participants’ emotion and their sense of ‘small self’, and then the manifestation of aggressiveness in a Shooting Game (Study 1), Tangram Help/Hurt Task (Studies 2 and 3) and Aggression-IAT (Study 3), respectively. Results indicated that awe reduced aggression and increased prosociality and a sense of small self relative to neutral affect and positive emotions of happiness and amusement. Mediation analyses evidenced mixed support for a sense of small self mediating the effect of awe on aggression and prosociality.

Reducing university students’ stress through a drop-in canine-therapy program

Abstract Background: Increasingly colleges and universities are offering canine therapy to help students de-stress as a means of supporting students’ emotional health and mental well-being. Despite the popularity of such programs, there remains a dearth of research attesting to their benefits. Aims: Participants included 1960 students at a mid-size western Canadian University. The study’s aims were to assess the stress-reducing effects of a weekly drop-in, canine-therapy program and to identify how long participants spent with therapy canines to reduce their stress. Methods: Demographic information was gathered, length of visit documented and a visual analog scale (VAS) was used to assess entry and exit self-reports of stress. Results: Participants’ self-reported stress levels were significantly lower after the canine therapy intervention. Participants spent an average of 35 min per session. Conclusions: This study supports the use of drop-in, canine therapy as a means of reducing university students’ stress. The findings hold applied significance for both counseling and animal therapy practitioners regarding the dose intervention participants seek to reduce their stress.

The Who, What, and Where of School Kindness: Exploring Students’ Perspectives:

The aim of this exploratory study was to examine fourth to eighth graders’ conceptualizations of kindness at school (i.e., their definition of kindness, an example of an act of kindness they have done, who they see as the most salient adult agent of kindness, and which location they deem that kindness happens most). To date, kindness research has focused predominantly on assessing the effects of being kind on student well-being and little is known about how students understand kindness and are kind in school. Across definitions and examples of kindness, the themes of helping others, showing respect, and encouraging others were prevalent. Teachers and principals were identified as the main adult agents of kindness; the classroom and outside/playground were identified as the two main kindness locations. Understanding how students conceptualize kindness within the school context holds implications for educators seeking to foster prosocial behavior among students.

Predictors and Causes of the Use of Noun-Based Mental Disorder Labels.

This research investigated (a) the role of empathy and stigmatizing attitudes in the use of noun labels applied to people with psychological disorders (e.g., John is a schizophrenic), and (b) whether depicted violence increases such usage. In Study 1, undergraduate participants (N = 308) read two mock newspaper stories in counterbalanced order: one depicting a man with schizophrenia committing a nonviolent crime and one depicting a man with schizophrenia committing a highly violent crime. Participants then selected seven headlines for each of the two news stories, in each case choosing between headlines employing either a noun label (e.g., Schizophrenic Snaps) or a person-first label (e.g., Person with Schizophrenia Snaps), following which they completed measures of trait empathy and stigmatizing attitudes. As hypothesized, lower empathy and higher stigmatizing attitudes predicted noun label usage, and violent depictions of a person with schizophrenia increased the use of noun label headlines. In Study 2, with 313 undergraduate participants, we replicated the effect of violence on noun label headline usage and demonstrated that dehumanization mediates this relationship. Several implications of these findings are discussed.