Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicología del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.
Psicothema, 2011. Vol. Vol. 23 (nº 2). 221-226
José Antonio Corraliza y Silvia Collado
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Esta investigación se centra en el estudio de la relación entre la cantidad de naturaleza de los entornos cotidianos de los niños y el modo en que éstos afrontan eventos estresantes. Resultados de estudios previos permiten pensar que cuanto mayor sea la cantidad de naturaleza en el entorno cotidiano de los niños, menor será el nivel de estrés infantil. Comparando el nivel de estrés de niños expuestos a igual frecuencia de situaciones adversas, aquél que disfrute de un mayor contacto con áreas verdes mostrará menos estrés que el que no tenga la posibilidad de pasar tiempo en contacto con el mundo natural. Esta evidencia es conocida como el efecto moderador de la naturaleza. El presente trabajo aporta evidencias empíricas del efecto amortiguador de la naturaleza del entorno residencial y del entorno escolar sobre el estrés de los niños de manera que cuanto mayor es el acceso de los más pequeños a las áreas naturales cercanas, mayor es su capacidad para sobrellevar situaciones adversas.
Nearby nature as a moderator of stress during childhood. The aim of this investigation is to study the relation between the amount of Nature existing in children’s daily environments and the way children deal with stressful events. Every day, children are exposed to situations that cause stress. Taking into account previous studies, it is thought that the greener the place where children spend their time, the better they cope with adversities. Thus, when comparing the stress level of children who are exposed to the same amount of adverse situations, the children who have more frequent daily contact with Nature will show less stress than those who do not spend time in Nature. This effect from nearby Nature is called a buffering effect. The present study provides empirical evidence of the buffering effect caused by the existence of Nature in the residential and the school environment. Therefore, our results show that children who have more access to Nature increase their resilience, showing a lower stress level than children whose contact with Nature is less frequent.
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