EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE CONNECTEDNESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE AMONG KOHAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

Abstract

Background: University students face academic, financial, and personal stressors that can undermine their mental health. Nature connectedness, meaning a person's emotional and cognitive sense of being linked to the natural world, has been proposed as a protective resource. Evidence from Pakistani higher education, however, remains limited.

Objective: This study examined the relationship between nature connectedness and psychological resilience among students of Kohat University of Science and Technology.

Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational design was used with 200 university students (60.5% men, 39.5% women; 82.5% undergraduates). Participants completed an online questionnaire with the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS; Mayer & Frantz, 2004) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al., 2008). Ethical approval and informed consent were obtained, and responses were anonymous. Data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation.

Results: Nature connectedness showed a moderate, positive, and statistically significant correlation with psychological resilience, r(198) = .443, p < .001. Students who felt more connected to nature reported higher resilience, so the research hypothesis was supported.

Conclusion: Nature connectedness appears to be an important protective factor for students' resilience, although resilience is also shaped by other factors such as social support and coping style. Universities may benefit from green campus spaces, outdoor activities, and nature-based wellness programs. Future research should use longitudinal and experimental designs and larger, more diverse samples, and should test mediators such as perceived stress and mindfulness.