Effects of Forest Therapy on Depressive Symptoms among Adults: A Systematic Review.
This study systematically reviewed forest therapy programs designed to decrease the level of depression among adults and assessed the methodological rigor and scientific evidence quality of existing research studies to guide future studies. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The authors independently screened full-text articles from various databases using the following criteria: (1) intervention studies assessing the effects of forest therapy on depressive symptoms in adults aged 18 years and older; (2) studies including at least one control group or condition; (3) peer-reviewed studies; and (4) been published either in English or Korean before July 2016. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network measurement tool was used to assess the risk of bias in each trial. In the final sample, 28 articles (English: 13, Korean: 15) were included in the systematic review. We concluded that forest therapy is an emerging and effective intervention for decreasing adults' depression levels. However, the included studies lacked methodological rigor. Future studies assessing the long-term effect of forest therapy on depression using rigorous study designs are needed.
Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. lisook@snu.ac.kr.
Insook
I
Lee
Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. hchoi20@snu.ac.kr.
Heeseung
H
Choi
Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. ksbang@snu.ac.kr.
Kyung-Sook
KS
Bang
Faculty of College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. sungjae@snu.ac.kr.
Sungjae
S
Kim
College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. mk0408@snu.ac.kr.
MinKyung
M
Song
College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea. bhyunlee@snu.ac.kr.
Buhyun
B
Lee
D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D065928:Forests; D006801:Humans; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
adults; depression; forest therapy; systematic review