Nature and Children's Mental Health: An Experimental Hypothesis

This report investigates the impact of nature-based interactions on the mental health and wellbeing of children aged 10-12. The research question focuses on how these interactions affect factors such as attention, stress levels, mood, and the risk of psychiatric disorders. The study employs an experimental hypothesis, utilizing instruments like the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire to measure wellbeing. Random sampling is used to select participants, and the experimental hypothesis method is chosen to identify causal relationships between nature interaction (independent variable) and children's wellbeing (dependent variable). Internal validity is addressed by managing stress and psychiatric disorders through care and therapy, while external validity considers the influence of nature-based interactions on children's behavior and attitude. Ethical considerations, including voluntary participation and informed consent, are managed with approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee. The study acknowledges both the potential benefits of nature in reducing stress and the potential limitations, such as the risk of increased psychiatric disorders. References to relevant books and journals are included to support the research.

Psychological experimental methods

Contents
TOPOC: “Impact of nature based interaction on the wellbeing of children’s mental health”........3
2. Research Question:..................................................................................................................3
3. Hypothesis...............................................................................................................................3
4...................................................................................................................................................3
10. Ethical issue...........................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

TOPIC: “Impact of nature based interaction on the wellbeing of children’s
mental health”.
2. Research Question:
What is the impact of nature based interaction on the wellbeing of children’s mental
health?
3. Hypothesis
The impact of nature based interaction on the wellbeing of children’s improved attention,
lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and so on. The experimental
hypothesis is usually conducted within the research process which may require scale or
instrument to measure the wellbeing that performed by satisfaction with the life scale, single
item measurement of happiness and oxford happiness questionnaire.
4.
Independent variable: Nature based interaction: It is defined as the independent variable which is
focus on the assumption or the research question which is measure with the reliable instrument
that produce variation in different stimulus.
Dependent variable: Children: The depend variable focus on the children which act as
experiment stimulus that required to perform the experiment of psychology in the appropriate
ways.
5.
The proposed participants for this purpose is children under the age group of 10-12. The total
population is children of different age groups mainly ranging between 10-12 and participants
will be selected from this total population using the recruitment strategy of random sampling. In
this sampling method, samples are selected randomly out of the total population. The purpose of
choosing children as participants as they are very well aware about the impact of well-being on
their mental health. The main strengths of this method is that it promotes unbiased results and it
helps in determining views which are based on a range of individuals and their personal
experiences. It helps in drawing better conclusions as an information is obtained from various
children of different nature. The limit of this strategy is that the chosen sample cannot be

represented in proper manner as it is done on random basis and also some may refuse to take part
in the random sampling.
6.
After deciding the category and nature of population on which the study would be based;
children under age group of 10-16, the random sampling will be executed by assigning every
individual in the population a number. Then samples will be created and randomly individuals
would be selected according to the number that is assigned to them. The children would be asked
about how their mental health responds in nature based interactions and what they prefer to do
when they feel upset or are in low spirits.
7.
The hypothesis test will be conducted with the help of experimental hypothesis method. The
main reason is of choosing the hypothesis method which is experimental because the research
question is well focus on the independent and dependent variable. In addition, the experimental
hypothesis plays vital role because it usually involves with the one variable in order to identity
the causes in the another variable. The method is well articulated in the controlled method and
also random assignment of the study has been taken in order to test the hypothesis. Therefore, the
psychological based experiment is defined as the scientific method which show the various form
of experimental method.
8.
The internal validity of the study is there is high stress and high psychiatric disorders in the
children’s. This can be declined by providing proper care, therapy sessions, interactive sessions
to the children’s.
9.
The external validity of the present study is the behaviour and attitude of children which is
carried out by their nature based interactions. One of the potential strength associated to the
study is it help children to lower down their level of stress and other disorders. In addition to this,
the limitation is it can increase psychiatric disorders among the children that has a negative
impact on their mental health.

10. Ethical issue
One of the issue that is faced while conducting the study is voluntary participation of
respondents. Sometimes children’s who are respondents for the present study did not take
interest in providing relevant answers. This issue can be decline by providing appropriate
information to children about the study and ensure their consent while collecting data. The above
discussed ethical issue are undertaken within the research process while performing the
psychological experiment with the experimental hypothesis. Therefore, the ethical consideration
is well approved by using the Human Research Ethic committee. They usually provide approval
for the research process that develop satisfaction for the participant’s selections and for the data
collection with the experiment.

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Carsley and et. al., 2019. Overweight and obesity in preschool aged children and risk of mental
health service utilization. International Journal of Obesity, 43(7), pp.1325-1333.
Downs and et. al., 2018. The prevalence of mental health disorders and symptoms in children
and adolescents with cerebral palsy: A systematic review and meta‐
analysis. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 60(1), pp.30-38.
Farajzadeh and et. al., 2021. Predictors of mental health among parents of children with cerebral
palsy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a web-based cross-sectional
study. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 112, p.103890.
Li, C., Jiang, S. and Fang, X., 2020. Effects of multi-dimensional social capital on mental health
of children in poverty: An empirical study in Mainland China. Journal of health
psychology, 25(6), pp.853-867.
Sanchez and et. al., 2018. The effectiveness of school-based mental health services for
elementary-aged children: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child
& Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(3), pp.153-165.