Residential Greenspace and Youth Antisocial Behavior and Depressed Mood

AI Summary

Tree canopy within 1600 m showed modest links to lower antisocial behaviour and depressed mood, but associations weakened after adjusting for demographic covariates.
Protective associations were significant mainly for higher socioeconomic status and White youth; depressed mood benefits also limited to low community violence and low peer deviance.
Effects tended to be stronger for younger adolescents and females, indicating greenspace benefits vary by age, gender, and social context.

J Environ Psychol. 2026 May;111:103026. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103026. Epub 2026 Apr 5.

ABSTRACT

This study explores how relationships between greenspace and youth antisocial behavior and depressed mood are influenced by different social and demographic contexts. Survey data were collected from 362 youth from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Greenspace was measured as the percent of tree canopy present within 1600m of the home address. Demographic and contextual variables included youth age, gender, racial and ethnic background, family socioeconomic status (SES), peer group deviance, and community violence exposure. The amount of tree canopy was modestly related to youth outcomes, although results became non-significant for antisocial behavior after considering demographic covariates. Subgroup analyses revealed a significant negative relationship between tree canopy and antisocial behavior only in high SES youth and White youth, while the relationship between tree canopy and lower depressed mood was only significant for high SES youth, youth unexposed to community violence, and youth with low levels of peer deviance. These results indicate that greenspace effects may benefit more privileged youth. Results further suggested that the relationship between tree canopy and youth outcomes was generally stronger for younger youth and females. This study provides evidence that the protective effects of greenspace for youth may vary across demographic, social, and developmental context.

PMID:42164714 | PMC:PMC13186581 | DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103026

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