Magis-Weinberg, LucíaGray, Carly E2025-08-012025-08-012025Gray_washington_0250E_25313.pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/1773/53750Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2025Rapid urbanization and a changing climate have been shaping the physical contexts in which children and adolescents grow up, including declining opportunities to interact with nature. Given these changes, this dissertation aimed to explore how nature, parks, and greenspace are related to psychological well-being in late childhood and adolescence. I present three studies that address a spectrum of conceptualizations and operationalizations of exposure to and interaction with nature, as well as nationally representative and community samples of youth. Study 1 examines how neighborhood greenspace (e.g., parks, tree canopy, vegetation) is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems from ages 9 to 14. Study 2 addresses the within- and between-persons dynamics of adolescents’ time spent outdoors and their stress over the course of a year. Study 3 examines how 8–12-year-old Girl Scouts’ psychological well-being and physical activity were related to time spent interacting with nature. Studies 2 and 3 address these questions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for an examination of how changes to the typical contexts of adolescence may have influenced the relationship between nature interaction and psychological well-being.Across these three studies, I find greater support for protective effects of time spent in and interacting with nature than for living near nature. Study 1 finds very few associations between neighborhood greenspace and internalizing or externalizing problems for any age, gender, or index of greenspace. Study 2 finds that adolescents who spent more time outdoors during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic also reported lower stress. However, when an adolescent reported greater stress than typical for themselves in the fall of 2020, they subsequently spent less time outdoors in the winter of 2020. These dynamics between time outdoors and stress did not differ according to whether an adolescent returned to in-person schooling during the pandemic, nor according to the safety of their neighborhood. Study 3 finds that Girl Scouts spent less time interacting with nature and physically active, and fared worse across several domains of psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic than one year prior. However, those who spent more time interacting with nature fared less poorly in terms of physical activity, anxiety, behavioral difficulties, and problematic media use, even after accounting for nature near their home. Together, these studies suggest that time spent outdoors and interacting with nature—but not simply living near nature—is associated with lower stress, fewer mental and behavioral health problems, and greater physical activity, even in the exceptional circumstances of a pandemic. I discuss these findings in relation to existing research, implications for practice, and future directions for the study of nature and adolescent well-being.application/pdfen-USCC BY-NC-SAPsychologyDevelopmental psychologyEnvironmental healthPsychologyThesis