This exploratory study assesses how outdoor adventure education improves mental health in young adults, suggesting effective interventions for anxiety and depression.
Global challenges such as climate change, international conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and civil unrest have intensified the worldwide mental health crisis. This has spurred a demand for effective interventions, particularly in areas related to youth development. The purpose of this article is to explore whether Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) may be one such effective treatment. To examine the effectiveness of these programs, this study assesses the impact of OAE participation on young adults aged 18 to 22, focusing on the variables of anxiety, depression, hope, and resilience. Employing online surveys and a thirty-item inventory within a retrospective pretest design, the research analyzed changes in these psychological variables through repeated-measure t-tests. Findings reveal significant improvements in anxiety, hope, depression, and levels of resilience. These results suggest that the inclusion of OAE as a component in mental health interventions can bolster resilience and feelings of hope and reduce levels of anxiety and depression among individuals.
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Davidson et al. (2026) studied this question.
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