How might access to, and engagement with, diverse forms of ‘green space’ support reductions in the use of alcohol and drugs among young people in Scotland?

How might access to, and engagement with, diverse forms of ‘green space’ support reductions in the use of alcohol and drugs among young people in Scotland? An interdisciplinary feasibility and acceptability study

Applications are invited for a full-time PhD scholarship in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. The scholarship is available to support either a 3-year research degree, or a 4-year programme incorporating a Masters course followed by 3-year research degree.

Evidence now exists supporting the hypothesis that access to urban green space (UGS) can have a positive impact on health (Richardson and Mitchell, 2010), partly via a reduction in stress and through behavioural changes such as increased levels of physical activity (Wan and Shen, 2015). Research has also demonstrated a link between access to UGS and better mental health, for example in lower incidences of mood disorders in environments with greater access to UGS (Nutsford et al, 2013). Reductions in health inequalities through increased levels of physical exercise, and higher levels of social capital, have been documented among people who experience social deprivation living in environments with greater UGS (Allen and Balfour 2014). Despite these developments there is a substantive gap regarding how access to, and engagement with, UGS affects alcohol/drug use, with most studies focusing on general mental health. However, psychological restoration and coping with stressful life events closely relate to use of alcohol/drugs. This studentship will explore the use of UGS to provide young people with alternative or ‘diversionary’ activities to those that involve use of alcohol/drugs. Social and conservation science will be used to explore how spaces which provide enhanced opportunities for more ‘intensive’ engagement with nature, such as woodlands, ecological/conservation schemes, might impact the potential resultant health benefits, including reductions in substance use.