Subjective and objective residential greenness and nature connectedness: A multi-mediator pathway analysis of environmental stressors, green leisure physical activity, and positive emotions

Residential greenness may support nature connectedness, but the pathways linking these constructs remain unclear. This cross-sectional study examined whether subjective and objective residential greenness were associated with nature connectedness and whether perceived environmental stressors, green leisure physical activity, and positive emotions mediated these associations. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 1031 participants whose IP-derived province and city information indicated coverage across 29 province-level administrative regions in mainland China. Separately, each participant's momentary residential location recorded through GaoDe was used as the center of a 1-km exposure buffer. Participants reported perceived residential greenness, perceived air pollution, perceived noise, green leisure physical activity, positive emotions, and nature connectedness. Objective residential greenness was assessed using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within a 1-km residential buffer. Both perceived residential greenness and NDVI were positively associated with nature connectedness. However, perceived residential greenness, but not NDVI, was associated with green leisure physical activity and positive emotions after adjustment for covariates. Path analysis showed that perceived residential greenness was indirectly associated with nature connectedness through perceived environmental stressors (perceived air pollution and noise), green leisure physical activity, and positive emotions, although most indirect effects were small. The pathway from perceived residential greenness to nature connectedness through green leisure physical activity was significant in both sexes. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing objective and perceived greenness and suggest that perceived residential greenness may relate to nature connectedness through environmental, behavioral, and emotional pathways.