Predictors of Nature Connection Among Urban Residents: Assessing the Role of Childhood and Adult Nature Experiences

Fostering nature connection may promote psychological well-being and enhance proenvironmental attitudes. However, there is limited understanding of what factors influence a person’s nature connection. Using survey responses from 1,000 residents of a large Australian city, we describe the relationship between nature connection and nature experiences at different stages in life, that is, past nature experiences that occurred during childhood, and current, everyday nature experiences. Both past childhood nature experiences and duration of current nature experiences significantly predicted nature connection. The positive relationship between duration of current nature experiences and nature connection was not significantly moderated by past childhood nature experiences. Hence, current nature experiences are associated with high levels of nature connection, even among those lacking childhood nature experiences. This research empirically demonstrates the positive relationship between nature connection and nature experiences, and suggests that it may be equally important to promote nature experiences at any life stage if increasing nature connection is the goal.