Green enrichment for better mind readers? Residential nature and social brain function in childhood

Human social cognition is considered an essential skill necessary for socially appropriate behaviours and social integration. Childhood is a time of rapid social expansion and growing independence from parents, but it is also a period of vulnerability in which children have unequal opportunities for optimal development. Accumulating evidence suggests that access to greenery, such as trees, shrubs, and grassed areas, might promote social skills in children. In this pre-registered, cross-sectional study, we found that vegetation cover around the home was associated with theory of mind (b/SE = 18.36/6.49, p = 0.006, Bayes Factor (BF) = 2.711) but not affect recognition (4.51/6.99, 0.52, 0.133) in 5–12 year-old children (n = 85). Further, neither of two neurophysiological indexes of face emotion processing, the N170 latency (−31.9/42.20, 0.45, 0.201) and the N170 amplitude (−5.58/11.82, 0.63, 1.02), were associated with vegetation cover around the home. Vegetation cover around the home might support the formation of social skills through higher order reasoning about emotion experience and cause and effect as it relates to other people. Future studies including larger, longitudinal samples are required to confirm the findings. •Social cognition is essential for social integration and wellbeing.•We proposed that natural environments might associate with better social cognition.•Availability of nature around the home was associated with theory of mind.•No association with affect recognition or neural face processing was observed.•Possible mechanisms are discussed.