Affiliations: Department of Public Health, University of North
Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA | Department of Health Education and Behavior,
University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA | Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral
Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Erin Largo-Wight, PhD, CHES,
Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive,
Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. Tel.: +1 904 620 2037; Fax: +1 904 620 1035;
E-mail: largo.wight@unf.edu
Abstract: Understanding and promoting healthy workplaces is an important and
growing area of interest in occupational health. Nature contact is a central
component to the study of and promotion of healthy places. Previous findings
suggest that nature contact influences health via stress appraisal process.
Currently, there are no known comprehensive valid and reliable measures of
nature contact, which presents obstacles to research and worksite health
promotion. Objective: This study was designed to develop and test an
instrument to measure nature contact at work, entitled the Nature Contact
Questionnaire (NCQ), 16-item self-reported checklist to measure actual
exposure. Participants: A sample of 503 (30% response rate) office
staff completed the questionnaire. Methods: Office staff were sent an
email with a link to the electronic survey twice, two weeks apart. Results: Content and construct validity (KMO=0.68),
internal consistency (Alpha=0.64), and test-retest
reliability (r=0.85, p< 0.01) were established. Conclusions: The NCQ is the first known comprehensive,
reliable and valid survey to measure nature contact, which allows research to
compare forms of nature contact to best inform practice and design of healthy places.
Keywords: Employee stress, healthy places, work environment, nature contact, worksite health promotion
