팬데믹 상황에서 숲의 이용이 심리상태에 미치는 영향

Impact of Forest Use on the Mental State during Pandemic

This study aimed to identify the impact of forest use on people’s mental state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred thirty-eight adult respondents from diverse regions of Korea submitted online self-report questionnaires. The data was analyzed through frequency analysis, Chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA (SPSS ver. 21.0), and the results were as follows. Following the analysis of general features related to the severe impacts on daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, 80.3% respondents were influenced by the pandemic situation, and respondents in their 30s (p<0.05) and the self-employed (p<0.01) were most affected. Female were less aware of subjective health status than males (p<0.1). For the mental state depending on general features, the male had more insomnia and depression than female (p<0.01), and respondents in their 30s showed the highest depression ratio (p<0.01). The religious group had a lower level of depression than the non-religious group(p<0.001). The respondents who expressed that the pandemic severely interrupted their life had higher anxiety and depression (p<0.001). For the examination of the mental state depending on forest use, respondents with a forest in their living area showed lower anxiety, insomnia, and depression (p<0.01). Forest use for less than 30 minutes and accompanying family member showed the lowest anxiety and depression (p<0.001). Furthermore, meditation activities while using the forest lowered stress levels (p<0.001). The analysis results above indicated that the respondents using the forest or staying close to greens areas during the COVID-19 pandemic maintained a relatively better mental state. In addition, forest use in disaster situation positively benefits the mental state of people with anxiety and depression.