The Influence of Self-Guided and Guided Forest Therapy Program on Students' Psychological Benefits

The Influence of Self-Guided and Guided Forest Therapy Program on Students' Psychological Benefits

ABSTRACTBackground and objective: University students' mental health is threatened by various stressors. Forest therapy is consideredan effective way to improve mental health. Many researchers have investigated the effectiveness of forest therapyprograms operated by guides. Recently, although the concept of a self-guided forest therapy program has emergedwithout a guide, research is insufficient. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the influence of self-guided andguided forest therapy program on students' psychological benefits. Methods: We employed a randomized 3 × 3 crossover study. Twenty-three university students were randomly assignedinto three groups to eliminate the order effect. Twenty-three university students were randomly exposed to threeconditions: a self-guided forest therapy program, a guided forest-therapy program, and routine activities. All participantsparticipated in all interventions once a week for three weeks, and each intervention was conducted over a one-weekwashout period to eliminate the carryover effect of the intervention. Measures included the Positive and Negative AffectSchedule (PANAS), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES), and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS). Results: As a result, self-guided and guided forest-therapy programs significantly improved participants' negative emotionsand natural connectedness compared to routine activities. As for self-esteem, only a guided forest therapy program washigher than daily routine activities. Conclusion: This study shows that not only guided forest therapy programs but also self-guided forest therapy programshave a positive effect on psychological health. Therefore, these findings suggest that running guided forest therapyprograms and self-guided forest therapy programs as university in-campus programs will significantly help universitystudents' mental health.