Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) on Psychological Well-being

March 9, 2020 updated by: Fiona YY Ho, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Effects of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) on Psychological Well-being in Urban or Rural Green Space: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

This study will examine the effects of Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) as an intervention for enhancing psychological well-being in Chinese population. The main component of Shinrin-Yoku is the use of 5 senses in various activities, which typically includes forest walking, meditation, yoga etc. While Shinrin-Yoku has been widely recognized in Japan as a means of preventative health and stress management, it is still a new concept in some countries. In the existing literature, there is increasing evidence demonstrating the efficacy of Shinrin-Yoku for improving for health promotion. However, there is very limited research examining the effectiveness of Shinrin-Yoku in different types of natural environment and the sustainability of its effects.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This study will be a pilot randomized controlled trial on the effects of Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) as an intervention for enhancing psychological well-being in Chinese population. Prior to all study procedures, an online informed consent (with phone support) will be obtained from potential participants. Around 30 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either the natural forest group or the urban green area group in a ratio of 1:1.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • The Chinese University of Hong Kong
      • Sha Tin, Hong Kong
        • The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Hong Kong residents
  • Aged from 18 to 65
  • Cantonese language fluency
  • a willingness to provide informed consent and comply with the trial protocol.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant
  • Have suicidal ideation
  • Using medication or psychotherapy for depression
  • Experiencing Depression, Anxiety and Stress
  • Having unsafe conditions and are not recommended for physical activity by physicians
  • Have major psychiatric, medical or neurocognitive disorders that make participation infeasible based on the research team's judgment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Urban Green Space group
This group of participants would experience a 3-hour Shinrin-Yoku session in urban green space.
Behavioral: Shinrin-Yoku
Shinrin-Yoku is a traditional Japanese practice of getting in touch with nature through walking in the forest in a relaxed way using all five senses.
Other Names:
  • Forest Bathing
Experimental: Rural Green Space group
This group of participants would experience a 3-hour Shinrin-Yoku session in rural green space.
Behavioral: Shinrin-Yoku
Shinrin-Yoku is a traditional Japanese practice of getting in touch with nature through walking in the forest in a relaxed way using all five senses.
Other Names:
  • Forest Bathing

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in the Profile of Mood States-Short Form
Time Frame: Pre-, post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
The POMS-SF is a 30-item scale that measures six different dimensions of mood swings over a period of time. These include: Tension or Anxiety, Anger or Hostility, Vigor or Activity, Fatigue or Inertia, Depression or Dejection, Confusion or Bewilderment. A five-point scale ranging from "not at all" to "extremely" is administered by experimenters to patients to assess their mood states.
Pre-, post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
DASS-21 is a 21-item scale, comprises of three sub-scales which measures the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress, over the past week. The DASS is based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological disorder, thus it has no direct implications for the allocation of patients to discrete diagnostic categories. However, recommended cutoff scores for conventional severity labels (normal, moderate, severe) are given in the DASS Manual.
Up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in Nature-relatedness Scale-6
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
NR-6 is a 6-item scale assesses the self and experience dimensions of individuals' connection to nature. The NR uses 5-point scale ranging from disagree strongly (1) to agree strongly (5). It is important to respond with the actual feelings rather than how "most people" feel.
Up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in Brief Resilience Scale
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
BRS consists of six items, three positively worded items, and three negatively worded items. All six relate to the individual's ability to bounce back from adversity. It was predictably related to personal characteristics, social relations, coping, and health in all samples. The BRS uses 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
Up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in Insomnia Severity Index
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
ISI is a 7-item scale designed to evaluate perceived insomnia severity. Ratings on the 5-point Likert scale are obtained on the perceived severity of sleep-onset, sleep-maintenance, early morning awakening problems, satisfaction with current sleep pattern, interference with daily functioning, noticeably of impairment attributed to the sleep problem, and level of distress caused by the sleep problem.
Up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in Subjective Vitality Scales - State Version
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
SVS is a 7-item scale, comprises of two versions which measures subjective vitality in two level, including individual differences level and state level. The SVS uses 7-point scale ranging from not at all true (1) to very true (7). The state level version assesses the state of subjective vitality rather than its enduring aspect.
Up to 1 month after the intervention
Change in Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form
Time Frame: Up to 1 month after the intervention
SCS-SF is a 12-item scale to evaluates the degree of self-compassion. Ratings on the 5-point Likert scale are obtained on 6 factors, including self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self-judgment, isolation and over-identification. The self-report 13-item SCS-SF explicitly represents the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors associated with self-compassion and includes items that measure how often people respond to feelings of inadequacy or suffering with each of six components.
Up to 1 month after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 30, 2020

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 20, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 23, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 25, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 11, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 9, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • PSY008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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