The Relationship Between College Students’ Connectedness to Nature and Quality of Life — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Relationship Between College Students’ Connectedness to Nature and Quality of Life

Name: Hannah Shields
Major: Exercise and Sport Science
Hometown: Cedar Lake, IN
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an increased connection to nature (CNS) would be associated with improved quality of life (QOL), present and future, and stress.

A questionnaire was given to 196 students enrolled in a required health course, and then analyzed through several chi-square tests. The questionnaire included Mayer and Frantz’s Connectedness to Nature Survey, the Cantril Self-Anchoring Scale, and a list of thirteen items that may have caused subjects “a significant amount of stress” in the past thirty days.

No correlation was found between CNS and present or future QOL. Academics was the most reported stressor of the college students, with 87.8% (N=172) of participants citing it as a source of stress. Students with a high CNS were 10% less likely to report it.

Interestingly, daily and college related finances showed the opposite relationship. Students with a high CNS score were 15% more likely to say they experienced stress related to daily finances and paying for college.

It is possible that because many college students often find themselves spending their time working indoors, (studying, part-time jobs) they are unable to make time for outdoor pursuits. Secondly, because experiences that allow us to become closer to nature often require money (time off work, camping equipment, travel expenses), students are not yet in a financial place to afford these expenses.

Poster file