Nature contact can level up income inequities in mental health: evidence for equigenesis in Australia

Nature contact is a low-cost intervention shown through experimental studies to improve many aspects of mental health. The ‘equigenesis’ hypothesis indicates that nature contact may disproportionately benefit less advantaged persons, however, evidence remains nascent. This cross-sectional study of validated measures of depression, anxiety, stress and wellbeing in 1433 adults aged 18–64 in Sydney and Brisbane conducted in 2021 found support for equigenesis. Nature visits once per week or more were associated with constrained income inequities in depression, anxiety and stress, compared to less frequent visits, though mainly for moderate income earners. Nature visits of 2 h per week or more (versus less) and visits to three or more different nature spaces (versus none) also constrained income inequities in wellbeing, mainly for participants on lower incomes. Associations were negligible for those on higher incomes, highlighting the potential of nature contact to level-up mental health inequities by supporting those less advantaged most.