Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Childhood Nature Contact And Its Effect On Adult Coping Skills, Mary-Jeanne Raleigh

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Reported anxiety levels continue to rise, in conjunction with a decrease in the depth and breath of coping strategies reported in college populations throughout the United States (Arthur, 1998; Twenge, 2000). Emotional management skills begin development in middle childhood (8-12yrs) and transition into adult coping skills in early adulthood (18-24yrs) (Seifert, 2000). The uses of natural restorative environments for coping may be reinforced during developmental phases in which coping skills are being learned. The development of coping strategies incorporating the use of natural restorative environments maybe contingent on early exposure to the qualities of natural restorative space found in routine …