Cambio climático, sostenibilidad y salud mental: revisión y estrategias para su abordaje / Climate Change, Sustainability and Mental Health: Revision and Strategies for its Approach

INTRODUCCIÓN: El cambio climático (CC) representa uno de los mayores problemas para la sociedad actual, cuyas consecuencias nocivas para la salud mental requieren del impulso de propuestas para un desarrollo sostenible. OBJETIVO: Explorar el estado del arte concerniente a las consecuencias del CC sobre la salud y salud mental, específicamente: a) describir los efectos nocivos del CC sobre la salud mental b) describir propuestas de instituciones dirigidas a su mitigación, c) identificar nuevos conceptos acuñados para describir el impacto del CC en la salud mental, d) describir el abordaje desde la psicología de las respuestas psicológicas frente al CC. METODOLOGÍA: Revisión literaria exploratoria, no sistemática. RESULTADOS: Se encontraron nuevos conceptos, tales como eco-ansiedad, acuñados para identificar la interrelación entre CC y salud mental. Se hallaron diversos aportes desde la psicología para comprender y mejorar las respuestas psicológicas frente al CC AU

INTRODUCTION: Climate change (CC) represents one of the major problems for today's society, whose harmful consequences for mental health require the development of proposals for sustainable development. OBJECTIVE: to explore the state of the art concerningthe consequences of CC on mental health specifically: a) to describe the harmful effects of CC on mental health, b) to describe proposals of institutions aimed at its mitigation, c) to identify new concepts coined to describe the impact of CC on mental health, d) to describe the approach from psychology of psychological responses to CC. METHODOLOGY: Exploratory, non-systematic literature review. RESULTS: New concepts were found, such as eco-anxiety, coined to identify the interrelation between CC and mental health. Several contributions from psychology to understand and improve psychological responses to CC were identified AU

Psicología y medioambiente: un reto ineludible / Psychology and the environment: an unavoidable challenge

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Psicología y cambio climático / Psychology and climate change

La Psicología tiene un papel importante que desempeñar para ayudar a la sociedad a entender y a adaptarse al crecimiento de las amenazas del cambio climático. Las investigaciones psicológicas han explorado las percepciones de las personas y sus creencias sobre el cambio climático, desvelando algunos de los importantes factores que inhiben o promueven la consciencia. Igualmente, los investigadores han comenzado a explorar las repercusiones actuales y potenciales del cambio climático en el bienestar social, incluyendo tanto los impactos a corto plazo de los desastres naturales como los graduales, impactos del peligro a largo plazo y del clima menos predecibles. Adicionalmente a la amenaza de la salud mental, la evidencia pone de manifiesto que el cambio climático conllevará un incremento del suicidio y del conflicto social. La distribución de los impactos seguramente aumentará la injusticia social y la falta de equidad. Investigaciones sobre el cambio en el comportamiento sugieren formas de afrontar adaptaciones positivas y un comportamiento más sustentable. Para maximizar la efectividad de esos estudios, los psicólogos necesitan trabajar colaborativamente con otras personas de otras profesiones

Psychology has an important part to play in helping society understand and adapt to the growing threat of climate change. Psychological research has explored people's perceptions and beliefs about climate change, uncovering some of the important factors that inhibit or promote awareness. Researchers have also begun to explore the current and potential impacts of climate change on psychosocial wellbeing, including short-term impacts of natural disasters as well as more gradual, long-term impacts of a warming and less predictable climate. In addition to threatening mental health, evidence is accumulating that climate change may lead to increase suicide and social conflict. The distribution of impacts is certain to heighten social injustice and inequity. Research on behavioral change suggests ways of encouraging positive adaptations and more sustainable behavior. To maximize the effectiveness of their research, psychologists need to work collaboratively with people from other professions

Cognitive Functioning as a Moderator in the Relationship Between the Perceived Neighborhood Physical Environment and Physical Activity in Belgian Older Adults.

Objective: To investigate whether the relationship of neighborhood environmental factors with physical activity (PA) is moderated by cognitive functioning in Belgian older adults. Methods: Seventy-one older adults completed validated questionnaires on PA and environmental perceptions, wore an accelerometer, and completed a computerized assessment of cognitive functioning. Moderated linear regression analyses were conducted in SPSS 24.0. Results: Overall cognitive functioning significantly moderated the associations of traffic safety and street connectivity with PA. Detailed analyses showed that these factors were only positively associated with PA in older adults with lower cognitive functioning. In addition, particularly, performance on tests assessing visuospatial and episodic memory moderated these associations. Discussion: Living in traffic-safe neighborhoods with short and many alternative routes might motivate older adults with lower cognitive functioning to be active. As such, the increase in PA might improve their cognitive abilities. This knowledge is crucial for health practitioners to develop effective PA promotion initiatives.

Establishing construct validity of AMEET (assessment of medical educational environment by the teachers) inventory.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the construct validity of Assessment of Medical Educational Environment by the Teachers inventory. METHODS: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted from January to May 2017 and comprised doctors working as faculty in Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and its 3 teaching hospitals. Non-probability (purposive) sampling was used to meet the criteria of 5 participants per item of the Assessment of Medical Educational Environment by the Teachers inventory. Exploratory factor analysis was done using SPSS 20 and confirmatory factor analysis was done with version 16 of the Analysis of Moment Structures software. RESULTS: Of the 250 subjects, 126(50.4%) were males and 124(49.6%) were females. Exploratory factor analysis ended with extraction of 11 components. It showed sufficiency of sample size and no multi-collinearity. Three (50%) of the six domains were finalised on the whole and 10(20%) of the 50 items were debarred from the inventory. All three domains had high reliability. Root mean square residual and chi square / degree of freedom were within acceptable limit. However, comparative fit index, goodness of fit index, normed fit index and root mean square error of approximation portrayed not only poor model fit after re-running confirmatory factor analysis, but also led to omission of further 16(32%) items with poor loadings from the inventory. Thus, there was exclusion of total 26(52%) items from the tool and the finalised Assessment of Medical Educational Environment by the Teachers inventory comprised 24(48%) items. CONCLUSIONS: Construct validity of Assessment of Medical Educational Environment by the Teachers inventory could not be established, but the tool was found to be reliable.

Evaluating the Psychosocial Impact of Indoor Public Spaces in Complex Healthcare Settings.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes an approach to a metrics-based evaluation of public space in hospitals using cross-disciplinary qualitative and quantitative analyses. The method, Indoor Public Space Measurement (IPSM), is well suited to researchers and designers who intend to evaluate user-centered spatial solutions in hospitals and similar facilities. BACKGROUND: Healthcare is transiting toward a value-based policy at all levels. Choosing the right set of qualitative and quantitative analyses to support value-based design solutions is not always an easy journey for healthcare design consultants. This article seeks to pull together the key analyses to evaluate the impact of the hospital indoor public space on the psychosocial well-being of the hospital users. METHOD: A step-by step guide to performing key analyses to evaluate the impact of hospital indoor public space environment on the users' psychosocial well-being is provided. A case study from the authors' research is utilized to illustrate the application of the method. RESULTS: Interpolating the results of all the analyses, the reader can identify where in the layout most of interactions among users occur, identify their typology and evaluate the contribution to the general psychosocial well-being, and know which group of users is more exposed to a specific typology of interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The IPSM method can help design consultants to measure the impact of the built environment of hospital public space on its occupants' psychosocial well-being: factual knowledge about the users' behavioral response with respect to wayfinding and social interaction. The application of the method is not limited to healthcare settings only.

The critical role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation.

Sustaining large-scale public goods requires individuals to make environmentally friendly decisions today to benefit future generations1-6. Recent research suggests that second-order normative beliefs are more powerful predictors of behaviour than first-order personal beliefs7,8. We explored the role that second-order normative beliefs-the belief that community members think that saving energy helps the environment-play in curbing energy use. We first analysed a data set of 211 independent, randomized controlled trials conducted in 27 US states by Opower, a company that uses comparative information about energy consumption to reduce household energy usage (pooled N = 16,198,595). Building off the finding that the energy savings varied between 0.81% and 2.55% across states, we matched this energy use data with a survey that we conducted of over 2,000 individuals in those same states on their first-order personal and second-order normative beliefs. We found that second-order normative beliefs predicted energy savings but first-order personal beliefs did not. A subsequent pre-registered experiment provides causal evidence for the role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation above first-order personal beliefs. Our results suggest that second-order normative beliefs play a critical role in promoting energy conservation and have important implications for policymakers concerned with curbing the detrimental consequences of climate change.

Bio-psycho-social correlates of the perceived crowding in different contexts / Correlatos bio-psico-sociales del hacinamiento percibido en diferentes contextos

BACKGROUND: This paper analyzes the experience of crowding through a biopsychosocial approach to human behavior which empirically joins different dimensions that the literature has analyzed separately. The main aim consists of identifying factors involved in perceived crowding from (a) the emotional response and affective meaning (BIO dimension); (b) the perception of psychological well-being and personality traits (PSYCHO dimension), and (c) sociodemographic characteristics (SOCIO dimension). METHOD: 761 adults completed an online questionnaire that included an assessment of images representing four high- and low-density functional and residential contexts. The data were analyzed through four hierarchical regressions, one for each spatial context. RESULTS: Although the results vary depending on the contexts analyzed, the prevalence of the variables from the BIO dimension in functional contexts, as opposed to residential contexts, is highlighted. The latter spaces show greater heterogeneity regarding the explanatory power of the experience of crowding. CONCLUSIONS: The response to crowding experienced in residential environments shows a greater range of variables involved, supporting the idea of these spaces' greater complexity, insofar as they are psychologically adaptive

ANTECEDENTES: esta investigación analiza la experiencia de hacinamiento mediante una perspectiva bio-psico-social del comportamiento humano que contemple distintas dimensiones que la literatura ha analizado empíricamente de forma independiente. El objetivo principal consiste en identificar factores implicados en el hacinamiento percibido provenientes de: a) la respuesta emocional y el significado afectivo (dimensión BIO); b) la percepción del bienestar psicológico y los rasgos de personalidad (dimensión PSICO); y c) las características sociodemográficas (dimensión SOCIO). MÉTODO: 761 adultos respondieron a un cuestionario online que incluía la evaluación de imágenes representativas de cuatro contextos funcionales y residenciales de alta y baja densidad. Los datos fueron analizados a través de cuatro regresiones jerárquicas, una por cada contexto espacial. RESULTADOS: aunque los resultados varían en función de los contextos analizados, cabe destacar la prevalencia de variables provenientes de la dimensión BIO en contextos funcionales frente a los residenciales. Estos últimos muestran mayor heterogeneidad en la capacidad explicativa de la experiencia de hacinamiento. CONCLUSIONES: la respuesta a la experiencia del ambiente en los espacios residenciales muestra una mayor amplitud de variables implicadas en la vivencia, percepción y adaptación a estos entornos, reforzando la idea de una mayor complejidad de estos espacios, en tanto que psicológicamente adaptativos

Ways forward for aquatic conservation: Applications of environmental psychology to support management objectives.

The success or failure of environmental management goals can be partially attributed to the support for such goals from the public. Despite this, environmental management is still dominated by a natural science approach with little input from disciplines that are concerned with the relationship between humans and the natural environment such as environmental psychology. Within the marine and freshwater environments, this is particularly concerning given the cultural and aesthetic significance of these environments to the public, coupled with the services delivered by freshwater and marine ecosystems, and the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems to human-driven environmental perturbations. This paper documents nine case studies which use environmental psychology methods to support a range of aquatic management goals. Examples include understanding the drivers of public attitudes towards ecologically important but uncharismatic river species, impacts of marine litter on human well-being, efficacy of small-scale governance of tropical marine fisheries and the role of media in shaping attitudes towards. These case studies illustrate how environmental psychology and natural sciences can be used together to apply an interdisciplinary approach to the management of aquatic environments. Such an approach that actively takes into account the range of issues surrounding aquatic environment management is more likely to result in successful outcomes, from both human and environmental perspectives. Furthermore, the results illustrate that better understanding the societal importance of aquatic ecosystems can reduce conflict between social needs and ecological objectives, and help improve the governance of aquatic ecosystems. Thus, this paper concludes that an effective relationship between academics and practitioners requires fully utilising the skills, knowledge and experience from both sectors.