Neighborhood greenspace visits and mental health: insights from mobility data across nine U.S. metropolitan areas

作者：Sarayu Chandra Mouli, Tong Zhang, Zhuo Chen, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Jay E. Maddock, K N Khurram Nasir, Weichuan Dong, Sadeer Al-Kindi · 发表于：Frontiers in Public Health · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.3389/fpubh.2026.1731243 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Urban Green Space and Health、Urban Transport and Accessibility、Health disparities and outcomes

Background Access to greenspace supports mental health, but most studies focus on the presence of greenness rather than actual use. Fewer explore how the association may vary within city boundaries and suburban areas. Objective We examined associations between neighborhood-level greenspace visits and poor mental health across nine U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), adjusting for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), demographics, and social vulnerability, and evaluated spatial heterogeneity. Methods We integrated greenspace visits, CDC PLACES mental health estimates (2023), Social Vulnerability Index (2018), demographics (ACS 2010–2014), and NDVI (2021). Ordinary least squares (OLS) models were conducted for each metro and overall, adjusting for NDVI, SVI themes, and demographics. Multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) assessed spatial variation. Results The sample included 13,152 tracts across nine MSAs (72.5 million residents). Poor mental health prevalence ranged from 12.9% (DC) to 18.7% (Houston), while visits ranged from 11.5 (Houston) to 33.2 (DC). In pooled models, more visits indicated better mental health (β = −0.029; R 2 = 0.62). Metro-specific models showed strongest effects in Houston (β = −0.113; R 2 = 0.716) and Atlanta (β = −0.096; R 2 = 0.634), with weaker results in Philadelphia and DC. MGWR revealed strong urban-core associations in Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas, while peripheral tracts often showed null effects. Conclusions Gr...