Nature connection in adulthood: The role of childhood nature experiences

Childhood nature experiences are associated with stronger nature connections in adulthood

Research from many countries suggests that childhood nature experiences translate to stronger connections to nature as adults. This study examined these relationships in a new context—Greece—while testing a series of statistical hypotheses derived from previous research regarding the effects of childhood nature experiences on adults’ nature experiences and nature connections. The hypotheses were that (1) Adult nature connection would be positively associated with frequency of participation in childhood nature experiences. (2) Adult nature experiences would be positively associated with frequency of participation in childhood nature experiences. The study also tested three exploratory questions: What types of childhood nature experiences are better predictors of adult nature connection? Do nature experiences in adulthood mediate the relationship between childhood nature experiences and adult nature connection? How does age relate to experiences of nature during childhood?

This was a quantitative study that took a longitudinal view of nature connection by collecting current data and retrospective accounts of childhood nature experiences from a sample of 401 Greek adults. These adults completed an online survey with questions designed to measure adults’ nature connection, the frequency of their nature experiences in adulthood, and their childhood nature experiences. Questions also elicited data on participants’ ages and the specific types of nature engagement they experienced as children. The researchers then measured statistical correlations among these variables to test their statistical hypothesis and answer their exploratory questions.

Their statistical findings confirmed their first hypothesis but rejected their second hypothesis. Consistent with previous research, the Greek adults’ connection to nature was positively associated with their childhood nature experiences. Contrary to previous research, adult nature experiences did not mediate the relationship between childhood nature experience and adult nature connection. That is, childhood nature experiences were directly linked to stronger connections in adulthood; they did not increase adult nature connections indirectly by increasing the frequency of adults’ nature experiences. Childhood nature experiences had greater effects on adults’ connection to nature than the frequency of adults’ nature experiences. The study detected some age-based differences in the adults’ childhood nature experiences. Among childhood nature experiences, flower picking, time spent in wilderness areas, and time spent alone in nature were the best predictors of stronger nature connections in adulthood. Outdoor learning had the weakest connection to adult nature connection out of the different childhood experiences named in the study.

The overall results point to the importance of childhood nature experiences as predictors of connections to nature in adulthood. Both structured and unstructured nature experiences as children were associated with connections to nature in adulthood but did not predict the types or frequency of adults’ nature activities. The authors speculated that limited time for nature activities in adulthood and lack of access to nature could account for this finding, but that explanation was beyond the scope of their data collection and analysis. Age was positively associated with both childhood nature experiences and current nature connectedness and with less structured childhood nature experiences. That is, older adults were more connected with nature than younger adults, both in childhood and adulthood. These findings point in part to generational differences among Greek adults, whose childhoods and adulthoods have been influenced differently by rapid urbanization, economic decline, and the rise of screen-technologies. These patterns could inform context-specific recommendations for childhood nature experiences that can address today’s mental health crises, climate crises, and declining nature connections in both children and adults.