Childhood nature exposure and adult outdoor recreation: a life-course perspective on urban forest recreation

Urban forests support outdoor recreation and well-being in high-density cities, yet less is known about how early-life nature experiences are associated with adult recreation behaviour. Adopting a life-course perspective, this study examines the relationship between childhood nature exposure and adult urban forest visitation frequency. Using the Taipei Botanical Garden as a case study, on-site surveys were conducted with 262 adult visitors to measure visitation frequency, childhood forest visitation, current outdoor recreation patterns, and sociodemographic characteristics. An ordered logit model was used to identify factors associated with adult visitation frequency. The results show that childhood forest visitation frequency is significantly associated with adult visitation frequency, even after controlling for selected sociodemographic and behavioural variables. Current outdoor recreation ratio, age, income, marital status, and residential location were also related to visitation frequency. These findings suggest that early-life nature experiences may be linked to later outdoor recreation patterns, although causal claims cannot be made due to the cross-sectional study design. By providing empirical evidence from a high-density Asian urban context, this study contributes to leisure and outdoor recreation research by highlighting the relevance of life-course experiences in understanding urban forest use.