| Park environments are increasingly recognized as influential settings in the built environment that hold potential to promote human health. Previous research has indicated that park size, attractiveness, aesthetics, and conditions correlate with park use and physical activity. Although research examining parks and health-related outcomes has rapidly increased in the last decade, few studies have investigated underlying mechanisms working between specific park features and health-related behaviors or the ways in which these relationships operate across areas comprised of disparate demographic groups. In response to these gaps in the literature, the purpose of this study was threefold. First, landscape preference was examined as a mediator within the relationships between park characteristics and park use and park-based physical activity. Second, park characteristics were examined to identify potential disparities across areas of disparate race/ethnicity and income composition. Third, relationships between park characteristics and park use and park-based physical activity were examined across race/ethnicity and income comparison areas. The social-ecological model of active living, deprivation amplification, and environmental justice perspectives underpinned this study. Social ecologic models suggest how features of the built environment like parks can influence physical activity. Deprivation amplification and environmental justice perspectives describe why parks may not be equally available in all areas. Park characteristics examined included park size, extent of tree canopy, park condition, and quality. A park audit tool was used to collect the conditon/quality data of park features in 21 neighborhood parks. Park size and percentage of tree canopy were obtained using GIS. Landscape preference, park use, and park-based physical activity measures were obtained using a mail survey (N=230). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and multilevel regression. Results indicated that relationships between park characteristics and park use and park-based physical activity are more complex than shown in previous studies. Landscape preference for highly enclosed, least-developed settings attenuated the relationship between the amount of tree canopy present in parks and park use and park-based physical activity. Fewer wooded areas and more trash cans were found in low income area parks and minority area parks as compared to parks in medium-high income and non-minority areas. Parks in low income areas were also found to have less tree canopy than parks in higher income areas. Disparities in tree canopy and wooded areas indicated that the health promoting benefits of these resources may not be conveyed to populations in low income and minority areas. Park size was a positive and significant predictor of park use and park-based physical activity for non-minority and medium-high income respondents, but not for their comparison groups. Higher park condition and quality scores were associated with increased park use for low income but not medium-high income respondents. These findings suggested that modifying park environments to increase the quality and condition of parks and the number of trees in parks could increase park use and related health benefits among those at highest risk for adverse health outcomes. However, future research is needed to examine how different population groups perceive landscape components (e.g., trees, vegetation, elevation, etc.) and configurations of these components (e.g., spacing) in neighborhood parks, particularly those located in low income and minority areas. |
