Resumen de Acute effects of being outdoors on college students mood in Costa Rica

Alejandro Rodriguez Montero, Daniel Rojas Valverde

• Objective: analyze the acute effect of being outdoors in the mood of a group of college students of Costa Rica. Methods: participants of this study were 50 college students (age 21.88  4,11 years): 27(age 21.33  2.96 years) physical education students (PEG) and 23 (age 22.52  5.14 years) health promotion students (HPG). The 44 items POMS Mood State Questionnaire version was used, reestructured from the spanish version. Two assessments were performed immediately before and after a 35-minute being outdoor session, students were asked to be seated, open eyes and quiet. The participant were exposed to a natural grass environment surrounded by trees. Results: there were found significant differences in tension-anxiety, depression and fatigue. Conclusions: forest therapy does work for improving the mood state of college students.