Active Green Space Use & Perceived Stress amongst University Students: Differences by Gender, Major, & Graduation Year
Department, Center, or Institute
Health Sciences
Presentation Format
Poster
Presentation Type
On-campus research
Description
Introduction: Green space utilization is correlated with lower levels of perceived stress and a positive outlook on life.Therefore, green space utilization is an important thing to evaluate among college students, a heavily stressed population. Furman University offers numerous options of green space for students to utilize, either actively or passively. We aimed to better understand patterns between gender, year, and major and green space and perceived stress. Methods: An electronic survey was administered by instructors to students during class time. The survey contained questions pertaining to how the students utilized green space, their stress levels, perception of quality of life, etc. A total of 224 students answered all the questions. Data form the survey was then analyzed. Results: Males reported higher utilization of green space and lower levels of perceived stress levels at 52.3% and 50.8% respectively. Freshmen utilized green space the most at 55.7%. Political Science and Business majors had both the highest levels of green space utilization (62.5 % and 61.1%) and the lowest levels of perceived stress (43.8% and 47.1%). Conclusion: Males tended to have lower levels of stress and higher levels of green space utilization. The freshmen class utilized green space the most. Political Science and Business majors had the lowest stress levels and highest green space utilization.
Session Number
5
Start Date and Time
4-9-2019 4:00 PM
Location
PAC Gym
Recommended Citation
Best, Noelle, "Active Green Space Use & Perceived Stress amongst University Students: Differences by Gender, Major, & Graduation Year" (2019). Furman Engaged!. 356.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furmanengaged/2019/all/356
Active Green Space Use & Perceived Stress amongst University Students: Differences by Gender, Major, & Graduation Year
PAC Gym
Introduction: Green space utilization is correlated with lower levels of perceived stress and a positive outlook on life.Therefore, green space utilization is an important thing to evaluate among college students, a heavily stressed population. Furman University offers numerous options of green space for students to utilize, either actively or passively. We aimed to better understand patterns between gender, year, and major and green space and perceived stress. Methods: An electronic survey was administered by instructors to students during class time. The survey contained questions pertaining to how the students utilized green space, their stress levels, perception of quality of life, etc. A total of 224 students answered all the questions. Data form the survey was then analyzed. Results: Males reported higher utilization of green space and lower levels of perceived stress levels at 52.3% and 50.8% respectively. Freshmen utilized green space the most at 55.7%. Political Science and Business majors had both the highest levels of green space utilization (62.5 % and 61.1%) and the lowest levels of perceived stress (43.8% and 47.1%). Conclusion: Males tended to have lower levels of stress and higher levels of green space utilization. The freshmen class utilized green space the most. Political Science and Business majors had the lowest stress levels and highest green space utilization.