Comparing the Effects of Indoor vs. Outdoor Horticultural Therapy on College Students

Not Applicable

Active, not recruiting

• Conditions: Healthy

• Registration Number: NCT06950801
• Lead Sponsor: Ye Zhiyin

Brief Summary

This study used a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effects of different forms of horticultural group interventions on college students' depression, anxiety and subjective well-being, and the internal mechanisms of the effects.

Participants are required to complete the following tasks:

Attend one indoor/outdoor group gardening activity per week, lasting 2 hours each session, for a total of 8 weeks.

Complete psychological scale assessments at five time points: before the activity begins, at 4 weeks after the start, upon completion of the activity, and at 1 week and 2 weeks after completion.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Study First Submitted: 2025-03-04
• Study Start: 2025-03-20
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-04-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-22
• Study First Posted: 2025-04-30
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-30
• Primary Completion: 2026-05-30
• Study Completion: 2026-06-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 120

Inclusion Criteria

• University students

Exclusion Criteria

• Diagnosed with a mental disorder

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Depression	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment Edit Copy Outcome	The Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9): This scale consists of 9 items, each rated on a 4-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms in the subject.
Positive And Negative Affective	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): This scale consists of 20 items, including 10 positive affect items and 10 negative affect items, with each item rated on a Likert five-point scale. Higher scores on the positive affect items indicate higher levels of positive affect in the participants, while higher scores on the negative affect items indicate higher levels of negative affect in the participants.
Anxiety	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7): This scale consists of 7 items, each rated on a 4-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms in the subjects.
Life satisfaction	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS): This scale consists of 5 items, each rated on a 7-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction among participants.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Self-concept	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	Sense of Mastery Scale, SMS. This scale consists of 12 items, with each item rated on a five-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate a clearer self-concept among the participants.
Grit	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Grit Scale consists of 12 items with two dimensions: the Effort dimension and the Interest Consistency dimension. Each item is rated on a five-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating that participants perceive themselves as more perseverant.
nature connection	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Nature Connection Scale, which consists of 14 items, employs a 5-point Likert scale for each item, with higher scores indicating that participants perceive themselves as more closely connected to nature.
Resilience	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC): The scale consists of 25 items divided into three dimensions-tenacity, self-reliance, and optimism. Each item is rated on a Likert five-point scale. Higher scores indicate greater psychological resilience in the subjects.
Loneliness	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	UCLA Loneliness Scale: This scale consists of 8 items, each rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating stronger feelings of loneliness in the subjects.
Sense of control	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	Sense of Mastery Scale (SMS): This scale consists of 7 items, each using a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating a stronger sense of mastery in the subjects.
Avoidance	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ) was initially simplified and revised by Gámez et al. based on the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire to assess content related to experiential avoidance. Cao et al. conducted a Chinese version revision in 2021. The questionnaire consists of 15 items, with the cognitive avoidance dimension containing 8 items and the behavioral avoidance dimension containing 7 items, all rated on a 6-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree."
meaning in life	From enrollment to 2 weeks after the completion of the 8-week treatment	The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ): This scale consists of 10 items with two dimensions: Presence of Meaning (MLQ-P) and Search for Meaning (MLQ-S). Each item adopts a 7-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating that participants experience a stronger sense of meaning in life.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, Beijing 100875; 🇨🇳 Beijing, Beijing, China