Exploring the impact of nature connectedness on well-being among urban youth from 25 mostpopulated cities in India

Exploring the impact of nature connectedness on well-being among urban youth from 25 mostpopulated cities in India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Exploring the impact of nature connectedness on well-being among urban youth from 25 mostpopulated cities in India Raina Chhajer, Sudeep Bapat This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4274744/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 May, 2025 Read the published version in PLOS ONE → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In contemporary urban settings, enhancing the well-being of youth is a challenge. The proliferation of screen time, particularlypost-pandemic, has contributed to an alarming disconnection with nature. This study investigates the impact of natureconnectedness on the well-being of urban youth residing in the 25 most populated cities in India. 2283 urban youth respondedto an online survey questionnaire that aimed to assess participants’ exposure to and interaction with nature. Respondentsself-reported their proximity to green and blue spaces near their residences, the frequency of recreational visits to theseareas, time spent in indoor environments, nature connectedness (NIS), and well-being (WHO-5). Multivariate regressionanalysis results show that urban youth with access to both green and blue spaces within 1-kilometer or between 1-3 kilometersradius, along with frequent recreational visits to these spaces, reported a significant positive association with well-being.Additionally, spending less than 8 hours in indoor environments and a high nature connectedness score had a significantpositive association with well-being. Moreover, logistic regression analysis shows that urban youth with WHO-5 scores lessthan 13, considered mentally distressed, who have access to both green and blue spaces within 1 kilometer or access to greenspaces between 1-3 kilometers, along with frequent recreational visits to these spaces, and a high nature connectednessscore, increases their log-odds of well-being significantly. This study conducted in the 25 most populated cities, representsa comprehensive exploration of the impact of nature connectedness on well-being in India. The implications of the studyextend to policy recommendations, advocating for the development of more parks in close proximity to residential areas. Suchinitiatives aim to encourage urban youth to actively engage with and experience nature, fostering improved well-being andreduced distress levels. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Psychology and behaviour Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files NCWBdataset.csv Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 May, 2025 Read the published version in PLOS ONE → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4274744","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":294907297,"identity":"51f5ec46-f69b-4191-b4d4-ac715f2dd176","order_by":0,"name":"Raina Chhajer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Management Indore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Raina","middleName":"","lastName":"Chhajer","suffix":""},{"id":294907298,"identity":"6f5af7d6-ee5d-42ca-9ea6-1b508a83c4b0","order_by":1,"name":"Sudeep Bapat","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAz0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAyA+IMfGzMAG5rIRq8WYjZmZRC2JDQzMxCgGAvkZyRsffNxxJ72Pnf/YA4YaOwY+6QYCVtxIKzaceeZZbhszM7sBw7FkBjaZAwS0SOSYSfO2HQZpYZNgYDvAwCaRQMhhOea//7YdTmcDa/lHhBaGGzlmzIxthxPAWhjbiNBicOZZsWTvmWeGQIeZGyT2JfMQdlh78sYPP3fckZfvP/jswYdvdnLyMwg5DAQYG6AMoGIeItQjaxkFo2AUjIJRgA0AAOjEO0gZihgWAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Bombay","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sudeep","middleName":"","lastName":"Bapat","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-04-16 09:08:50","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4274744/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4274744/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323712","type":"published","date":"2025-05-30T00:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83836654,"identity":"b4f9635c-08e1-46b3-8919-52a2f0a05d0c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-03 13:19:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1671793,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4274744/v1_covered_59cea7bd-9a06-48da-8efe-a42cf62568ca.pdf"},{"id":55355107,"identity":"8f25039a-6500-40b3-99fc-76789fc1733c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 07:02:10","extension":"csv","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":447941,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"NCWBdataset.csv","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4274744/v1/57c0c6795d590745d6ab3b02.csv"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exploring the impact of nature connectedness on well-being among urban youth from 25 mostpopulated cities in India","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4274744/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4274744/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In contemporary urban settings, enhancing the well-being of youth is a challenge. 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