Highlights Explored causal effects of utilitarian bicycling on mental wellbeing. Occasional bicycling is not significantly associated with psychological distress and life satisfaction. Regular bicycling may help to reduce psychological distress and improve life satisfaction. Physical activity level does not fully mediate the effects of bicycling on mental wellbeing.
Abstract Few studies have investigated how transportation-related bicycling might contribute to better mental health. We investigated the effects of utilitarian bicycling frequency on psychological distress and life satisfaction, and explored the possible causal mechanisms, using large and state-wide representative survey data from Victoria, Australia. Propensity score methods were applied to balance treatment and control groups, effectively reducing the selection bias that potentially confounds the causal effects. This study finds that occasional bicycling was not significantly associated with mental health, while regular bicycling was negatively associated with psychological distress and positively associated with life satisfaction. This study also finds that physical activity levels, physical health conditions, and neighborhood physical environment do not fully mediate the effects of utilitarian bicycling on mental wellbeing. These findings support the policies of promoting transportation bicycling to improve population mental health, and highlight the potential role of regular bicycling in combating psychological distress and improving life satisfaction.
Exploring the causal effects of bicycling for transportation on mental health
2021-01-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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