A virtual reality study to investigate the influence of greenery and traffic density on self-reported feelings of relaxation among older adults

Mental health problems affect approximately 14% of older adults worldwide. Although urban environments are known to influence stress, a key contributor to mental health problems, well-controlled experimental studies examining how specific urban features affect stress in older adults are lacking. Therefore, this study investigated whether manipulations of the amount of greenery and traffic density influenced self-reported feelings of relaxation when older adults (≥ 65 years) walk through a virtual urban street. Additionally, this study investigated whether greenery buffered the adverse effects of traffic density. Quantitative data were triangulated with qualitative data to obtain detailed insights into how greenery and traffic density influenced the self-reported feelings of relaxation. Also, it was explored whether virtual reality (VR) is a feasible and engaging method to use with older adults. Ninety older adults from Ghent (Belgium) each walked six times through a virtual street (2 × 3 factorial, within subject design), experiencing varying amounts of greenery and traffic density presented in a randomized order. To investigate whether manipulations of greenery and traffic density influenced relaxation, a linear mixed model with random intercept (repeated measures clustered within participants) was run. Results showed that more greenery and less traffic were independently related to an increase in self-reported feelings of relaxation. No buffering effect of greenery on the adverse effects of traffic was observed in the quantitative analysis; however, some participants did talk about the buffering effect of greenery during the qualitative interviews. Insights from this study could be used by urban planners and designers to enhance urban streets. Moreover, this study highlights the usefulness of VR in environmental research among older adults.