Citation

Shen YS, Lung SCC. Urban For. Urban Green. 2018; 34: 147-153.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ufug.2018.06.005

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Green space has both environmental and health benefits, especially in moderating temperature and improving mental health. However, the characteristics of green structures have been overlooked in previous studies, and the mediation effects of green structures on the suicide rate have not been analyzed. To evaluate the mediation impacts of green structures (patch area, fragmentation, and patch distance), this study explored the potential pathways and effects of green structures on the suicide rate using partial least squares modeling with data from Taiwan. Other factors influencing the suicide rate, such as economic status, an aging population, population density, and temperature were also considered in the model. The results revealed a negative association between the suicide rate and patch area (standardized total effect coefficient (STEC) = −0.42), but there were positive associations with fragmentation (STEC = 0.14), and patch distance (STEC = 0.35) of green structures. Therefore, maximizing the patch area, and minimizing fragmentation and patch distance can contribute to a reduction in the suicide rate. Fragmentation minimization was found to be crucial for both genders, while patch-area maximization and patch-distance minimization were only influential for females. Moreover, economic status, an aging population, population density, and temperature were influential for both genders. This is the first study to consider the direct and indirect pathways and effects of the green structure on suicide rate. Instead of considering only the area covered by green spaces, it was found that other characteristics of green structures should also be considered when formulating greening policies. © 2018

Language: en

Keywords

mental health; suicide; economic analysis; Suicide prevention; Taiwan; Temperature; demography; health impact; socioeconomic status; air temperature; Demographic and socio-economic status; environmental effect; Green structure; greenspace; habitat fragmentation; Health protection strategy; least squares method; patch size