A Potential Natural Treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence From a National Study

ABSTRACT Objective We examined the impact of relatively "green" or natural settings on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms across diverse subpopulations of children. Methods Parents nationwide rated the aftereffects of 49 common after-school and weekend activities on children’s symptoms. Aftereffects were compared for activities conducted in green outdoor settings versus those conducted in both built outdoor and indoor settings. Results In this national, nonprobability sample, green outdoor activities reduced symptoms significantly more than did activities conducted in other settings, even when activities were matched across settings. Findings were consistent across age, gender, and income groups; community types; geographic regions; and diagnoses. Conclusions Green outdoor settings appear to reduce ADHD symptoms in children across a wide range of individual, residential, and case character Frances E. Kuo is with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Andrea Faber Taylor is with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Frances E. Kuo, PhD, Human Environment Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1103 S Dorner Dr, Urbana, IL 61801 (e-mail: [email protected]).