NCT05827692

Impact of Forest Baths on Emotional Well-being in People With Sub-clinical Symptomatology of Anxiety and Depression

UAB-CAN RULL 2022 Study: Impact of Forest Baths on Emotional Well-being in People With Sub-clinical Symptomatology of Anxiety and Depression

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Laura Comendador-Vazquez · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The investigators intend to evaluate patients aged 18 to 99 years with symptoms of anxiety and/or mild depression. A randomized controlled clinical trial will be carried out to evaluate the impact of the guided practice of forest bathing.

Detailed description

The practice of Shinrin-Yoku, also known as Forest Bathing, is an outdoor therapeutic modality with growing evidence suggesting positive effects on the psychological well-being and general health of individuals. However, its benefits have been studied mainly in Asian countries, needing further research to assess whether its benefits are also generalizable to other European-Mediterranean regions. To explore this question, the investigators intend to evaluate patients aged 18 to 99 years with symptoms of anxiety and/or mild depression. A randomized controlled clinical trial will be carried out to evaluate the impact of the guided practice of forest bathing. The participants will be randomly distributed in two arms, with a crossover design: arm A intervention + control; arm B control + intervention. Participation in this study consists of the execution of two sessions of guided forest bathing practice, and the completion of online evaluation forms before and after each session of guided forest bathing practice, for 24 hours afterwards, as well as before and after the program as a whole. The study includes clinical assessments, emotional well-being, social support and other complementary indicators. For hypothesis testing, a linear model of univariate analysis of variance intrasubject design will be applied to the dependent variables, with three phase conditions (pre, post and follow-up) and two treatment conditions (intervention vs. control).

Conditions

• Psychological Well-being

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Intervention group A	The forest bath sessions will be led by a specialized guide and will be conceived as a silent walk of about 3 km along a path and forest track with an average gradient of 3%, with three 10-minute stops (at the beginning, in the middle and at the end) to practice deep breathing and awareness of the 5 senses.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-13
• Primary completion: 2023-06-18
• Completion: 2023-12-01
• First posted: 2023-04-25
• Last updated: 2023-04-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain