Green spaces, quality of life, and citizen perception in European cities.

Urban green spaces generate a number of perceived benefits toward human health and well-being, including an overall improvement in the quality of life. To date, processes underlying these benefits are mostly investigated at city level, while very little research has been conducted at a larger scale, such as the European level. Evidence is lacking on the association between green spaces and citizens' perceived benefits based on variations among cities with different socio-economic conditions. This study aims to disentangle the relationship between greenness, citizens' perceived quality of life, the environment, social inclusion and urban management in 51 European cities, as well as the role of per capita income in moderating the effects of greenness on overall perceived quality of life. Through structural equation modeling, the effect of greenness was tested on citizens' perceived overall quality of life (i.e., on the environment, social inclusion, and urban management). The role of metropolitan gross domestic product per capita in moderating the relationship between greenness and citizens' perceptions on overall quality of life was investigated. Our findings confirm the influence of greenness on citizens' quality of life. More importantly, the influence of greenness on the overall perception of quality of life was considerably more marked in lower-income cities. This study represents one of the first attempts at exploring the complex mechanisms underlying the association between green space and citizens' well-being at continent level. Practical implications for European urban planners and policy makers are discussed.

Association between indoor-outdoor green features and psychological health during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: A cross-sectional nationwide study.

Exposure to public green spaces was shown to be associated with psychological health. Nonetheless, evidence is lacking on the role of different green features within and/or surrounding the home environment when public green spaces are inaccessible or not usable. The overarching goal of this study is to shed light on the associations between the presence of greenness within the home and in the surrounding environment and the detrimental effects of quarantine on psychological health during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy. A cross-sectional nationwide study involving an online survey was conducted of an Italian population-based sample of 3886 respondents on the association of indoor and outdoor green features (i.e., presence of plant pots, sunlight, green view and accessibility of private green space and natural outdoor environment) with self-reported increases in anxiety, anger, fear, confusion, moodiness, boredom, irritability, recurrent thoughts and/or dreams, poor concentration and sleep disturbance during the COVID-19 lockdown. Single-exposure regression models were performed to estimate associations between single green features and each psychological health outcome adjusted for relevant covariates. In the adjusted models, the presence of plant pots at home was associated with a lower self-reported increase in anxiety, anger, fear, irritability, and sleep disturbance. A greater amount of sunlight in the home was associated with a lower increase in anger, fear, confusion, moodiness, boredom, irritability, poor concentration, and sleep disturbance. A greater amount of green view and access to private green spaces were both associated with a lower increase in each of the psychological health outcomes except for green view and recurrent thought and/or dreams. Natural outdoor environment was associated with anxiety, fear, boredom, irritability, and sleep disturbance. Significant associations remained robust when adjusted for number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Insights on future investigations are provided.

The differential effect of normal and pathological aging on egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in navigational and reaching space.

BACKGROUND: Topographical disorientation (TD) refers to a particular condition which determines the loss of spatial orientation, both in new and familiar environments. TD and spatial memory impairments occur relatively early as effect of cognitive decline in aging, even in prodromal stages of dementia, namely mild cognitive impairment (MCI). AIMS: (a) To show that components linked to the recall of familiar spatial knowledge are relatively spared with respect to the learning of unfamiliar ones in normal aging, while they are not in MCI, and (b) to investigate gender differences for their impact on egocentric and allocentric frames of reference. METHOD: Forty young participants (YC), 40 healthy elderly participants (HE), 40 elderly participants with subjective memory complaints (SMC), and 40 elderly with probable MCI were administered with egocentric and allocentric familiar tasks, based on the map of their hometown, and with egocentric and allocentric unfamiliar tasks, based on new material to be learned. A series of general linear models were used to analyze data. RESULTS: No group differences were found on egocentric task based on familiar information. MCI performed worse than the other groups on allocentric tasks based on familiar information (YC = HE = SMC > MCI). Significant differences emerged between groups on egocentric and allocentric tasks based on unfamiliar spatial information (YC > HE = SMC > MCI). A gender difference was found, favoring men on allocentric unfamiliar task. CONCLUSION: Familiarity of spatial memory traces can represent a protective factor for retrospective components of TD in normal aging. Conversely, using newly learned information for assessment may lead to overestimating TD severity.

Visuospatial/executive abilities and mood affect the reliability of a subjective memory complaints measure.

BACKGROUND: Inconsistent results are reported so far in the literature on the relationship between subjective memory complaints (SMC) and objective memory performance. Mixed findings triggered the need to investigate whether other potential mediating variables, such as mood and non-memory domains, affect the relationship between SMC and memory performance. AIMS: The present study aimed to contribute in clarifying the relation between subjective and objective memory considering the potential role of mood and visuospatial/executive functions. METHODS: Six hundred and sixty Italian community-dwelling adults (52-91 years old) were enrolled. Italian version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCA), Geriatric Depression Scale and Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire (SMCQ) were administered. Four subsamples were composed according to the following criteria: (a) participants with high visuospatial/executive function (VSE) score at MoCA and high mood; (b) participants with high VSE score and low mood; (c) participants with low VSE score and high mood and; (d) participants with low VSE score and low mood. RESULTS: Preliminarily, two confirmatory factor analysis have set the one-factor structure of SMCQ as the best fitting model. Diagnostic accuracy of the SMCQ in discriminating high and low memory score was assessed. ROC analyses confirmed that a low score in executive tasks was associated with poor reliability of the SMCQ. On the contrary, well-preserved executive functions and high mood levels ensured a good reliability of SMCQ in detecting memory problems. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Although mood is a key mediator in the relationship between subjective and objective memory, preserving executive functions is essential for ensuring the accuracy of memory self-appraisal in adulthood and elderly.

The Effect of Aging on Memory for Recent and Remote Egocentric and Allocentric Information.

BACKGROUND: The present study explores recent and well-consolidated spatial memory within the egocentric and allocentric frames of reference in young and elderly people. METHODS: The research included young and old participants, within the range of normality. All the participants were tested on four spatial tasks requiring allocentric and egocentric judgments, based on recent as well as remote spatial information, using a Multivariate Regression Analysis. RESULTS: An age effect on both egocentric and allocentric tasks was present in recently learned spatial information. The age effect was not present in tasks regarding well-consolidated spatial information. Finally, sex influenced the performance in allocentric tasks regarding both recent and well-consolidated memory. CONCLUSION: These data were discussed according to the Multiple Trace Theory, supporting the idea that the magnitude of difference between egocentric and allocentric judgments in aging is somewhat attributable to the characteristic of spatial tasks. In general, a lower difference between the performance of young and elderly participants is shown in tasks based on well-consolidated information when compared with tasks based on episodic information. Well-consolidated information seemed to be better preserved in memory and less prone to the impairment.

Cognitive functioning, subjective memory complaints and risky behaviour predict minor home injuries in elderly.

INTRODUCTION: Home accidents are one of the major causes of death, particularly in older people, young children and women. AIMS: The first aim of this study was to explore the role of subjective memory complaints, cognitive functioning and risky behaviour as predictors of home injuries occurred in a year in a sample of healthy Italian older adults. The second aim was to investigate the role of risky behaviour as a mediator in the relationship between subjective and objective cognitive functioning and home injuries. METHODS: One hundred thirty-three community-dwelling older people from southern Italy were administered a battery of tests to evaluate cognitive functioning, subjective memory complaints, and risky behaviour during home activities. Risky behaviour was evaluated using the Domestic Behaviour Questionnaire, created specifically for this purpose. The number of home injuries was recorded for a year throughout monthly telephone interviews. A path analysis was performed to test the following model: cognitive functioning and subjective memory complaints directly influence risky behaviour and number of accidents over a year; risky behaviour mediates the impact of cognitive functioning and subjective memory on number of accidents over a year. RESULTS: Path analysis confirmed the model tested except the role of risky behaviour as a mediator between cognitive functioning and home accidents. DISCUSSION: Risky behaviour could represent a further risk factor in cognitively intact older adults with subjective memory complaints. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment of both cognition and behaviour in elderly can make a valuable contribution in preventing home accidents in elderly.

Spatial reorientation decline in aging: the combination of geometry and landmarks.

OBJECTIVES: The study is focused on the assessment of reorientation skills in a sample of community-dwelling elderly people, manipulating landmarks and geometric (layout) information. METHOD: A neuropsychological assessment was administered to 286 elderly participants, divided into six groups (healthy controls, HC; four subgroups of participants with mild cognitive impairment, MCI; participants with probable dementia, Prob_D) and tested with the Virtual Reorientation Test (VReoT). VReoT manipulated different spatial cues: geometry and landmarks (proximal and distal). RESULT: Compared with HC, participants with MCI and Prob_D showed to be impaired in tasks involving geometry, landmarks and a combination of them. Both single and multiple domain impairment in MCI had an impact on reorientation performance. Moreover, VReoT was marginally able to discriminate between amnesic and non-amnesic MCI. The occurrence of getting lost events seemed to be associated to learning of geometric information. CONCLUSION: The associative strength between landmark and target plays an important role in affecting spatial orientation performance of cognitively impaired participants. Geometry significantly supports landmark information and becomes helpful with the increase of cognitive impairment which is linked to a decrement in landmark encoding. VReoT seems to represent a reliable evaluation supplement for spatial orientation deficits in prodromal stages of dementia.

Italians do it worse. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) optimal cut-off scores for people with probable Alzheimer's disease and with probable cognitive impairment.

Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) is a test providing a brief screening for people with cognitive impairment due to aging or neurodegenerative syndromes. In Italy, as in the rest of the world, several validation studies of MoCA have been carried out. This study compared, for the first time in Italy, a sample of people with probable Alzheimer's Disease (AD) with healthy counterparts. The study also compared two community-dwelling groups of aged participants with and without probable cognitive impairment, as discriminated by two cut-off points of adjusted MMSE score. All the comparisons were carried out according to ROC statistics. Optimal cutoff for a diagnosis of probable AD was a MoCA score ≤14. Optimal cutoff for the discrimination of probable cognitive impairment was a MoCA score ≤17 (associated to MMSE cutoff of 23.8). Results confirm the substantial discrepancy in cut-off points existing between Italian and other international validation studies, showing that Italian performance on MoCA seems to be globally lower than that in other Countries. Characteristics of population might explain these results.

The role of pre-morbid intelligence and cognitive reserve in predicting cognitive efficiency in a sample of Italian elderly.

BACKGROUND: Models of cognitive reserve in aging suggest that individual's life experience (education, working activity, and leisure) can exert a neuroprotective effect against cognitive decline and may represent an important contribution to successful aging. AIM: The objective of the present study is to investigate the role of cognitive reserve, pre-morbid intelligence, age, and education level, in predicting cognitive efficiency in a sample of healthy aged individuals and with probable mild cognitive impairment. METHODS: Two hundred and eight aging participants recruited from the provincial region of Bari (Apulia, Italy) took part in the study. A battery of standardized tests was administered to them to measure cognitive reserve, pre-morbid intelligence, and cognitive efficiency. Protocols for 10 participants were excluded since they did not meet inclusion criteria, and statistical analyses were conducted on data from the remaining 198 participants. A path analysis was used to test the following model: age, education level, and intelligence directly influence cognitive reserve and cognitive efficiency; cognitive reserve mediates the influence of age, education level, and intelligence on cognitive efficiency. RESULTS: Cognitive reserve fully mediates the relationship between pre-morbid intelligence and education level and cognitive efficiency, while age maintains a direct effect on cognitive efficiency. DISCUSSION: Cognitive reserve appears to exert a protective effect regarding cognitive decline in normal and pathological populations, thus masking, at least in the early phases of neurodegeneration, the decline of memory, orientation, attention, language, and reasoning skills. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment of cognitive reserve may represent a useful evaluation supplement in neuropsychological screening protocols of cognitive decline.

Effects of a combined neuropsychological and cognitive behavioral group therapy on young adults with Fragile X Syndrome: An explorative study.

BACKGROUND: Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to intellectual disability (ID) along with cognitive-behavioral difficulties. Research on psychosocial treatments in individuals FXS and ID is still lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a combined neuropsychological and cognitive behavioral group therapy (nCBT) among young adults with FXS. METHOD: Ten young adults diagnosed with FXS took part in the second stage intervention of "Corp-osa-Mente" (CoM II), a group nCBT program previously outlined by Montanaro and colleagues in an earlier study, with the participants being the same as in the previous research. This report details the outcomes of an additional twelve-month group sections aimed at enhancing the ability to manage emotions and the socio-communicative skills of these young adults. Caregivers completed measures of adaptive functioning, emotional and behavior problems, executive function, communication skills and family quality of life at pre-treatment (T0) and post-treatment (T1). RESULTS: CoM II showed a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms from T0 to T1, along with increased socio-pragmatic and communication skills from pre-test to post-test intervention. Additionally, our analysis revealed improvements in the adapative behavior of participants and in the family quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that young adults with FXS and ID experienced positive outcomes through participation in CoM II, a group nCBT. However, it is recommended to undertake additional methodologically rigorous studies, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), to substantiate these initially promising findings.

Personal dispositions explain differences in physical health benefits of nature exposure: the role of restorativeness and affect.

Introduction: Urbanization processes are constantly increasing, and most of the European population currently live in urban areas. Nevertheless, evidence is consistent in highlighting the positive association between nature exposure and human wellbeing, although individual differences might affect this association. Methods: The present study aimed to investigate the association among nature connectedness, conceptualized as Love and Care for Nature, place identity, and physical wellbeing, via restorativeness and positive and negative affect. A total of 312 visitors of an urban green area (i.e., Milan's Parco Nord) participated in the study. They completed an anonymous questionnaire. Results: Findings showed that nature connectedness and place identity positively affect physical wellbeing, via restorativeness and positive affect, but not through the negative ones. Discussion: Results highlight the importance of the joint role of exposure to nature and individual differences in promoting wellbeing. This study offers implications for interventions aimed at enhancing individuals' health through exposure to nature. Limitations of the study and future research developments are discussed.

"Regulating my anxiety worsens the safety of my driving": The synergistic influence of spatial anxiety and Self-regulation on driving behavior.

Spatial Anxiety (SA) can be defined as the fear and apprehension experienced during tasks that require spatial thinking and may negatively impact the execution of daily actions. Although it has been explored in several research fields, limited research has explored the effects of SA on specific driving behaviours. In the current study, it was hypothesised that the severity of SA affects risky driving behaviours, and that this relationship is mediated by the driver's self-regulation abilities. Self-reported SA symptoms, driving self-regulation abilities, and risky driving behaviours (i.e., errors, violations, and lapses) were examined in 838 Italian drivers. Data were analysed through linear regressions and path analysis models, controlling for sociodemographic variables. The results showed the negative effects of SA on driving errors and lapses. As hypothesised, a driver's self-regulation abilities mediated the influence of SA on driving lapses, but not on errors nor violations. These findings suggest that the inclination to self-regulate the SA experienced while driving contribute to increase the occurrence of driving lapses. Showing specific pathways through which SA impacts risky driving, these results provide valuable insights for the development of 'driver-focused' road safety interventions.

Perceived Social Support Mediates the Relationship between Use of Greenspace and Geriatric Depression: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of South-Italian Older Adults.

A growing body of evidence is suggestive for the beneficial role of contact with greenspace (e.g., use of greenspace, visual access to greenspace, etc.) on mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc.). In addition, several studies have pointed out the benefits of social support and social interaction on psychological wellbeing. Even if evidence on the association between contact with greenspace and perceived social support were mixed, it was supposed that the use of greenspace could enhance social interactions and perceived social support, especially among older adults. The present study aims to explore the effect of use of greenspace on geriatric depression in a sample of South-Italian older adults and the mediating role of perceived social support in this association. A structural equation model was tested in a sample of 454 older adults (60-90 years old) residing in the Metropolitan Area of Bari, Apulia. The fit indices revealed the goodness of fit of the model (CFI = 0.934; TLI = 0.900; IFI = 0.911; NFI = 0.935; RMSEA = 0.074; SRMR = 0.056). Results showed that the use of greenspace was inversely associated with geriatric depression through perceived social support. These findings underlined the relevance of perceived social support on the pathway linking use of greenspace and geriatric depressive symptoms. This evidence may be useful to policymakers to plan interventions for promoting physical access to greenspace and social participation in an age-friendly city framework.

Objective greenness, connectedness to nature and sunlight levels towards perceived restorativeness in urban nature.

The beneficial effect of exposure to nature and immersion in natural environments on perceived well-being is well established. Nevertheless, we acknowledge an emerging need to disentangle the role of specific environmental features from individual factors that encourage a positive person-environment interaction. This study aimed at evaluating the associations between four buffer distances of greenness and dimensions of perceived restorativeness, with connectedness towards nature (CTN) as a confounder variable, in a sample of 312 visitors to a large urban park. Variables investigating ecosystem services (ES, e.g., thermal comfort) were included as covariates. Results revealed differentiated effects of greenness level, sunlight intensity, and connectedness to nature in the pathways towards dimensions of restorativeness. Greenness level at 300 m was associated with Fascination, Scope, and Being Away, while at 500 m was associated with Coherence, Scope, and Being Away. ES was found to be associated with Coherence, while CTN with the other three dimensions of restorativeness. The moderating effect of sunlight level in the relationship between NDVI buffer distances and the total score of perceived restorativeness was also confirmed. The present work is intended to offer insights on the interplay between environmental features and individual differences for implications in several contexts, including the opportunity to develop tailor-made planning for urban forestry.

Emotion regulation and virtual nature: cognitive reappraisal as an individual-level moderator for impacts on subjective vitality.

People who make habitual use of an emotion regulation strategy such as cognitive reappraisal may be more sensitive to the emotion cues coming from a surrounding natural environment and, thus, get more benefits from virtual nature exposure such as enhanced subjective vitality. However, no previous study investigated the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal in the relationship between exposure to different types of natural environments (a national park, a lacustrine environment, and an arctic environment vs. an urban environment) and subjective vitality. We designed a between-subject design (four conditions, one per type of environment) with a sample of 187 university students (Mage = 21.17, SD = 2.55). Participants were exposed to four 360° panoramic photos of the environment for one minute each with a virtual reality head-mounted display. The results of a multicategorical moderation analysis attested that there were two significant interactions, respectively between lacustrine and arctic environments and cognitive reappraisal. More specifically, for participants with low levels of habitual use of cognitive reappraisal, the effects of virtual nature (vs. urban) exposure on subjective vitality were not significant, while for participants with high levels, the effects were significant and positive. Findings show how the potential of virtual nature may be boosted with training aimed at increasing the general use of cognitive reappraisal, supports enhancing the applications of virtual nature, and demonstrates the need to take individual differences into account when determining the benefits of these applications.

Two- and three-dimensional indicators of green and grey space exposure and psychiatric conditions and medicine use: A longitudinal study in a large population-based Italian cohort.

BACKGROUND: Evidence available on the associations between urban greenness and mental health is mainly based on cross-sectional studies and has relied on 2D indicators of greenness. This longitudinal study aimed at investigating the association between 2D and 3D indicators of green and grey spaces and incident mental health-related outcomes in a large population-based cohort. METHODS: Our study used data from 593,894 Italian adults (≥30 years) from the Rome Longitudinal Study. Mental health outcomes were defined using either drug prescriptions (antidepressants, antipsychotics, lithium and other mood stabilisers, and anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives), or hospitalisation records (for schizophrenia spectrum disorder, depression, anxiety, stress-related and somatoform, or substance use disorders). We obtained 2D and 3D indicators of green and grey exposures including Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), green volume, grey volume, number of trees, and Normalized Difference Green-Grey Volume Index around participants' homes. Cox proportional hazards regression models were developed to estimate the association of green and grey space exposure and psychiatric conditions and medicine use, adjusted for relevant covariates. RESULTS: We found beneficial associations of NDVI and the number of trees with antipsychotic and lithium and other mood stabiliser drugs. We also observed detrimental associations between grey volume and lithium and other mood stabilisers and anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative drugs. Finally, we found a protective association of the NDGG with lithium and other mood stabilisers (HR: 0.977; 95% CI: 0.965-0.990) and anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative drugs (HR: 0.851; 95% CI: 0.762-0.950). The associations for hospitalisation for psychiatric conditions were less consistent and generally not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggested that higher greenness areas around residential addresses are associated with reduced use of drugs for psychiatric conditions, while the opposite is true for higher grey space exposure. The study highlights the importance of accurately characterising green and grey spaces, using novel exposure indicators.

The Prevalence of Amnestic and Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Its Association with Different Lifestyle Factors in a South Italian Elderly Population.

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a transition stage between normal aging and dementia and can be useful to monitor the cognitive status of people at risk of dementias. Our aims were to investigate the prevalence of amnestic and non-amnestic MCI in a South Italian elderly population, and to identify socio-demographic, clinical and lifestyle factors associated with MCI. A cross-sectional retrospective population study on 839 community-dwelling participants over 60 years of age was carried out. Elderly people were administered a brief neuropsychological screening to identify their cognitive and functional status, and a questionnaire to investigate several socio-demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors. Prevalence estimate for MCI was 12.0% (95% CI: 10.0-14.5%), for amnestic MCI was 7.4% (95% CI: 5.8-9.4%), and for non-amnestic MCI was 4.6% (95% CI: 3.4-6.4%), for people older than 60 years of age. Logistic regression models, corrected for age, sex, and education, revealed a significant association of MCI with the following factors: age, education, intellectual activities, and topographical disorientation. On the other hand, education, clinical factors (e.g., depression level and perceived physical pain), lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking, alcohol, and leisure/productive activities), dietary habits, quality of life, and self-reported topographical disorientation were non-significantly associated with MCI. Prevalence estimates and the association of MCI and its subtypes with risk and protective factors were discussed in comparison with the most recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Long-Term Exposure to Greenspace and Cognitive Function during the Lifespan: A Systematic Review.

Recent advances in environmental psychology highlighted the beneficial role of greenspace exposure on cognition. We conducted a systematic review of the available studies on the association of long-term exposure to greenspace and cognitive functions across the lifespan. PRISMA guidelines and the PECOs method were applied to screen for eligible studies. Twenty-five studies from Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO met the inclusion criteria. Six studies were longitudinal and nineteen cross-sectional. Fifteen studies focused on schoolchildren, six studies on adults, and four on the elderly. Twenty studies used the NDVI to assess greenspace exposure and the remaining used other indexes. Eight studies employed academic achievement as the outcome, eight studies global cognition, six studies attention/executive functions, and three studies memory. The evidence was inconsistent but suggestive for a beneficial role of greenspace exposure on cognitive functions. Further studies are required, especially among adults and older people, by adopting longitudinal designs.

Greenspace exposure and children behavior: A systematic review.

We systematically reviewed the existing evidence (until end of November 2021) on the association between long-term exposure to greenspace and behavioral problems in children according to the PRISMA 2020. The review finally reached 29 relevant studies of which, 17 were cross-sectional, 11 were cohort, and one was a case-control. Most of the studies were conducted in Europe (n = 14), followed by the USA (n = 8), and mainly (n = 21) from 2015 onwards. The overall quality of the studies in terms of risk of bias was "fair" (mean quality score = 5.4 out of 9) according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Thirteen studies (45%) had good or very good quality in terms of risk of bias. The strength and difficulty questionnaire was the most common outcome assessment instrument. Exposure to the greenspace in the reviewed studies was characterized based on different indices (availability, accessibility, and quality), mostly at residential address locations. Association of exposure to different types of greenspace were reported for nine different behavioral outcomes including total behavioral difficulties (n = 16), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and severity (n = 15), ADHD diagnosis (n = 10), conduct problems (n = 10), prosocial behavior (n = 10), emotional symptoms (n = 8), peer-relationship problems (n = 8), externalizing disorders (n = 6), and internalizing disorders (n = 5). Most of the reported associations (except for conduct problems) were suggestive of beneficial association of greenspace exposure with children's behaviors; however, the studies were heterogeneous in terms of their exposure indicators, study design, and the outcome definition.

Is Experience the Best Teacher? Knowledge, Perceptions, and Awareness of Wildfire Risk.

Wildfires represent a natural phenomenon with detrimental effects on natural resources and human health. A better knowledge, perception, and awareness of wildfire risk may help communities at risk of exposure to prevent future events and safeguard their own lives. The aim of this study is to explore differences between individuals with and without previous wildfire experience, in terms of (1) subjective and advanced wildfire knowledge, (2) self-reported perceptions, (3) level of information, (4) self-protection measures, and (5) importance of community involvement. As a second step, we investigated differences in the same variables, focusing more deeply on a group of individuals with previous wildfire experience, classifying them according to fire-related employment (fire-related workers vs. non-workers) and wildland-urban interface (WUI) proximity (WUI residents vs. non-WUI residents). The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to establish differences between the pairs of subsamples. Our results partially confirmed our hypothesis, that direct experience leads individuals to have a greater preparedness on the topic of wildfires. Perception of knowledge is reflected only at a shallow level of expertise, and, therefore, no relevant within-group differences related to fire-related employment or to WUI proximity were detected. Moreover, available information was perceived to be insufficient, thus we report a strong need for developing effective communication to high-risk groups, such as homeowners and fire-related workers.