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A Human-Environment Systems Approach To Outdoor Recreation, Human Biological Stress, And Landscape Aesthetics, Ellie Dawn Opdahl
A Human-Environment Systems Approach To Outdoor Recreation, Human Biological Stress, And Landscape Aesthetics, Ellie Dawn Opdahl
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Outdoor recreation, as the intersection between physical exercise and nature, provides a multitude of psychological and physiological benefits to human well-being. Though many studies have reported qualitative stress reduction from outdoor recreation, few have focused on quantitative measurements of stress across recreational activity types, intrapersonal differences, and environmental variables. To determine whether outdoor recreation affects physiology, we collected 190 paired salivary cortisol and testosterone samples and 157 surveys from 88 hikers, 81 mountain bikers, and 44 off-highway vehicle (OHV) motorists. After recreation, cortisol concentrations were significantly reduced in hikers and OHV motorists, but cortisol and testosterone concentrations increased in mountain …