Residential surrounding greenness and self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescents

Background: Evidence on the relationship between exposure to greenness and adolescent mental health is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between greenness throughout childhood and mental health at age 12 years. Methods: We assessed greenness using the satellite-based measure of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 200m, 400m, and 800m of home address at birth, age 12 years, and across childhood (averaged for each year from birth to age 12) among the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS) cohort. Self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed at age 12 years using the Spence Children?s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and Children?s Depression Inventory 2 (CDI 2), respectively. Associations were estimated using linear regression, adjusting for covariates including traffic-related air pollution, neurological hazard exposure, blood lead level, household income, and community deprivation. Results: In adjusted models, NDVI was largely not associated with self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms, except for the SCAS separation anxiety subscale at 400m and 800m (0.1 unit increase mean NDVI 400m: 13 =-0.97, 95% CI:-1.86,-0.07; 800m: 13 =-1.33, 95% CI:-2.32,-0.34). Conclusion: While we found no direct relationship between greenness and overall symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescents upon adjustment for relevant covariates at the 200m distance, greenness may lesson symptoms of separation anxiety within 400m and 800m distance from the home address at age 12 years. Future research should examine mechanisms for these relationships at the community-and individual-level.