{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/101079"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/101079","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Investigating how mindfulness promotes the restorative effects of nature exposure in virtual reality","abstract":"Over the last century, the number of people living in urban areas has been increasing and the general health and happiness of the public has been decreasing (Emfield & Neider, 2014). As more people move into urban environments, the negative consequences of reduced connection with nature are becoming more apparent. One promising way to reverse this trend is by reconnecting humans with the natural world. Natural environments have been shown to exert beneficial influences on mental health; however, to effectively develop therapeutic interventions, there is a strong need to understand the mechanisms of action by which natural environments support positive mental health outcomes. This thesis investigated potential mechanisms of action for therapeutic nature exposure as well as the preliminary efficacy of nature exposure therapy in virtual reality. Research subjects completed a survey measure assessing previous visits to nature and self-reported mental health symptoms. They subsequently completed an in situ experimental session in which they received one of three treatments (real nature, virtual nature or no nature) and then completed a laboratory stress task. Levels of mindfulness during the stressor and changes in self-reported levels of state positive and negative affect before and after the stressor were assessed. Results showed nature visitation indirectly correlated with psychopathology and emotional responses to nature. Additionally, mindfulness covaried with nature treatment type (real nature or virtual nature) for positive affect. These results elucidate the relationship between nature and mental health and demonstrate the potential for virtual restorative environments to be used in the treatment of mental health disorders.","abstract_html":"Over the last century, the number of people living in urban areas has been increasing and the general health and happiness of the public has been decreasing (Emfield & Neider, 2014). As more people move into urban environments, the negative consequences of reduced connection with nature are becoming more apparent. One promising way to reverse this trend is by reconnecting humans with the natural world. Natural environments have been shown to exert beneficial influences on mental health; however, to effectively develop therapeutic interventions, there is a strong need to understand the mechanisms of action by which natural environments support positive mental health outcomes. This thesis investigated potential mechanisms of action for therapeutic nature exposure as well as the preliminary efficacy of nature exposure therapy in virtual reality. Research subjects completed a survey measure assessing previous visits to nature and self-reported mental health symptoms. They subsequently completed an in situ experimental session in which they received one of three treatments (real nature, virtual nature or no nature) and then completed a laboratory stress task. Levels of mindfulness during the stressor and changes in self-reported levels of state positive and negative affect before and after the stressor were assessed. Results showed nature visitation indirectly correlated with psychopathology and emotional responses to nature. Additionally, mindfulness covaried with nature treatment type (real nature or virtual nature) for positive affect. These results elucidate the relationship between nature and mental health and demonstrate the potential for virtual restorative environments to be used in the treatment of mental health disorders.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mimnaugh, Katherine J."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Natural Res & Env Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["van Riper, Carena","Browning, Matthew","Laurent, Heidemarie","LaValle, Steven"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-09-04T20:31:58Z","date_published":"2018-09-04T20:31:58Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:38Z","subjects":["Virtual reality","virtual restorative environments","virtual restorative environment therapy","mindfulness","mental health","nature","natural environments","affect","emotion"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2018 Katherine J. Mimnaugh"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101079","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["van Riper, Carena","Browning, Matthew","Laurent, Heidemarie","LaValle, Steven"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mimnaugh, Katherine J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018-09-04T20:31:58Z","2018-04-25","2018-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Virtual reality","virtual restorative environments","virtual restorative environment therapy","mindfulness","mental health","nature","natural environments","affect","emotion"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2018 Katherine J. 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This thesis investigated potential mechanisms of action for therapeutic nature exposure as well as the preliminary efficacy of nature exposure therapy in virtual reality. Research subjects completed a survey measure assessing previous visits to nature and self-reported mental health symptoms. They subsequently completed an in situ experimental session in which they received one of three treatments (real nature, virtual nature or no nature) and then completed a laboratory stress task. Levels of mindfulness during the stressor and changes in self-reported levels of state positive and negative affect before and after the stressor were assessed. Results showed nature visitation indirectly correlated with psychopathology and emotional responses to nature. Additionally, mindfulness covaried with nature treatment type (real nature or virtual nature) for positive affect. These results elucidate the relationship between nature and mental health and demonstrate the potential for virtual restorative environments to be used in the treatment of mental health disorders.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2018-08-31 without embargo terms","The student, Katherine Mimnaugh, accepted the attached license on 2018-04-25 at 14:29.","The student, Katherine Mimnaugh, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2018-04-25 at 14:43.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2018-04-25 at 15:05.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #12488 on 2018-08-31 at 17:14:48","Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-04T20:31:58Z (GMT). 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One promising way to reverse this trend is by reconnecting humans with the natural world. Natural environments have been shown to exert beneficial influences on mental health; however, to effectively develop therapeutic interventions, there is a strong need to understand the mechanisms of action by which natural environments support positive mental health outcomes. This thesis investigated potential mechanisms of action for therapeutic nature exposure as well as the preliminary efficacy of nature exposure therapy in virtual reality. Research subjects completed a survey measure assessing previous visits to nature and self-reported mental health symptoms. They subsequently completed an in situ experimental session in which they received one of three treatments (real nature, virtual nature or no nature) and then completed a laboratory stress task. Levels of mindfulness during the stressor and changes in self-reported levels of state positive and negative affect before and after the stressor were assessed. Results showed nature visitation indirectly correlated with psychopathology and emotional responses to nature. Additionally, mindfulness covaried with nature treatment type (real nature or virtual nature) for positive affect. These results elucidate the relationship between nature and mental health and demonstrate the potential for virtual restorative environments to be used in the treatment of mental health disorders.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2018-08-31 without embargo terms","The student, Katherine Mimnaugh, accepted the attached license on 2018-04-25 at 14:29.","The student, Katherine Mimnaugh, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2018-04-25 at 14:43.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2018-04-25 at 15:05.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #12488 on 2018-08-31 at 17:14:48","Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-04T20:31:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 MIMNAUGH-THESIS-2018.pdf: 2416854 bytes, checksum: 8f9d9111abe965973e21cc0139e447a0 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4215 bytes, checksum: ca9e916971d5fc1e0b9af0ec667cc287 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-25"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101079"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2018 Katherine J. Mimnaugh"],"dc:subject":["Virtual reality","virtual restorative environments","virtual restorative environment therapy","mindfulness","mental health","nature","natural environments","affect","emotion"],"dc:title":["Investigating how mindfulness promotes the restorative effects of nature exposure in virtual reality"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:38Z"}