Urban residential tree canopy and perceived stress among pregnant women

Abstract Objective To examine the association of urban residential tree canopy cover with perceived stress in a cohort of pregnant women in Philadelphia, PA, and explore whether this association differed among participants with a history of anxiety and depression. Study design We performed a secondary analysis of 1294 participants of the Motherhood & Microbiome (MM among participants with a history of depression or anxiety, each standard deviation increase in tree canopy cover was associated with lower PSS-14 in 100 m buffers (β −1.0, 95% CI -1.8, −0.2), but not among participants with no histories of depression or anxiety (β 0.2, 95% CI -0.3, 0.7) (interaction P = 0.007). Results were similar in directionality but not statistically significant within 500 m buffers. Conclusion Residential tree canopy coverage was associated with reduced perceived stress among urban-dwelling pregnant women with history of anxiety or depression. Future studies of the effects of greenness and other stress-reducing efforts should consider underlying mental health conditions as effect modifiers.