Nature at work: The effects of day-to-day nature contact on workers' stress and psychological well-being

Objectives: Chronic stress and burnout are key health issues for office workers that may contribute to a myriad of poor health outcomes. The presence of natural elements may improve psychological well-being in workers but the number of existing studies is relatively low, and more longitudinal research is specifically needed to assess how characteristics of workers' day-to-day environments may impact mental health outcomes like affect, depression and stress. This report outlines a multi-study investigation of workers at Amazon, a multinational e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington, USA, and the mental health benefits associated with exposure to nature. Methods: In Study 1, participants (n = 153) responded to a cross-sectional survey that assessed the association of self-reported visitation to an indoor company greenspace with psychological well-being including symptoms of depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and stress. In Study 2, a subset of participants from Study 1 (n = 33) completed multiple surveys in a 2-week period that assessed the association of the naturalness of their current environments with their state levels of psychological well-being. Results: We found contact with more natural outdoor environments was significantly associated with reduced state anxiety, after adjusting for activity type, location, and participants' trait levels of nature relatedness. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that nature contact in everyday life is significantly associated with decreased levels of state anxiety. More research is needed to investigate the role of nature contact as a potential intervention in the workplace for improved mental health.