title: Neighbourhood green space, social environment and mental health: an examination in four European cities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examines the relationship between neighbourhood green space, the neighbourhood social environment (social cohesion, neighbourhood attachment, social contacts), and mental health in four European cities.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PHENOTYPE study was carried out in 2013 in Barcelona (Spain), Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), Doetinchem (The Netherlands), and Kaunas (Lithuania). 3771 adults living in 124 neighbourhoods answered questions on mental health, neighbourhood social environment, and amount and quality of green space. Additionally, audit data on neighbourhood green space were collected. Multilevel regression analyses examined the relation between neighbourhood green space and individual mental health and the influence of neighbourhood social environment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mental health was only related to green (audit) in Barcelona. The amount and quality of neighbourhood green space (audit and perceived) were related to social cohesion in Doetinchem and Stoke-on-Trent and to neighbourhood attachment in Doetinchem. In all four cities, mental health was associated with social contacts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neighbourhood green was related to mental health only in Barcelona. Though neighbourhood green was related to social cohesion and attachment, the neighbourhood social environment seems not the underlying mechanism for this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Annemarie.ruijsbroek@rivm.nl.
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruijsbroek
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sigrid M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mohnen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mariël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Droomers
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hanneke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kruize
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research, Staffordshire University, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gidlow
authors.affiliation: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gražulevičiene
authors.affiliation: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, Kaunas, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrusaityte
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organisational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Vrije Universiteit (VU), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jolanda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maas
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Barcelona, Spain.|University Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiology y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nieuwenhuijsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Barcelona, Spain.|University Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiology y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Triguero-Mas
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research, Staffordshire University, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Masterson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research, Staffordshire University, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Kempen
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.|Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hardyns
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Karien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stronks
authors.affiliation: NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Human Geography and Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Groenewegen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002947:Cities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D000072506:Gardens; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Green; Mental health; Neighbourhood; Social environment