RESEARCH

The Effect of Time Outdoors on Veterans Receiving Treatment for PTSD

In the final model, for every one-unit increase in hours outdoors within-persons, PCL scores were expected to drop by 0.9 (probability of direction, PDP = 0.011). The effect of program duration was also significant, with the coefficient being -1.9 (PDP = 0.000),
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Summary

This study investigated how time spent outdoors might impact military veterans’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology while they were undergoing intensive outpatient trauma-focused therapy. Recognizing that nature exposure has been linked to various physical and psychological benefits and considering theoretical frameworks like Stress Reduction Theory and Attention Restoration Theory that suggest nature’s restorative capacity may be particularly helpful for individuals with PTSD, the researchers hypothesized that more time outdoors and longer program duration would predict reduced PTSD symptoms. The study employed an observational treatment outcome design involving 49 veterans with PTSD participating in a daily Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) program, along with other classes. Participants self-reported daily time spent in optional afternoon outdoor activities like hiking or cycling, and their PTSD symptoms were measured daily using the PCL-5. Multilevel models were used to analyze the data, incorporating a time lag so that time outdoors on one day predicted symptoms the following day.

The results indicated that spending time outdoors during the treatment program was associated with decreased PTSD symptomology. Specifically, the study found a significant “within-person” effect, meaning that on days when an individual participant spent more time outdoors, they experienced a greater reduction in PTSD symptoms the subsequent day. This effect held true even after accounting for the length of time the participant had been in the program. The total duration a participant spent in the program also significantly correlated with decreased PTSD symptomology, independent of the daily time spent outdoors. The researchers concluded that nature exposure may serve as a valuable adjunct to traditional mental health treatment for veterans with PTSD, though the necessary “dosage” of time outdoors may vary person-to-person.

Link

Bettmann, J.E., Prince, K.C., Ganesh, K. et al. (2021). The effect of time outdoors on veterans receiving treatment for PTSD. J Clin Psychol., 77(9), 2041-2056

 

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