Social distancing and home confinement during the first wave of Covid-19 have been essential to helping governments to flatten the infection curve but raised concerns on possible negative consequences such as prolonged isolation or sedentary lifestyles. In this scenario, gardening activities have been identified as a plausible tool to buffer the mental health consequences of forced home confinement. In this paper, we investigate the relation between gardening and psychopathological distress during the lockdown of the first wave of Covid-19 in Italy. It is hypothesized that engagement in gardening activities promotes psychological health, through a reduction of Covid-related stress. An online survey was administered through sharing using social media to N = 303 participants during the March-May 2020 lockdown in Italy, measuring Covid-19 related distress, psychopathological distress, engagement in gardening activities plus a series of socio-demographic and residential covariates. As expected, a mediation model tested using a bootstrapping procedure showed that gardening is related to lower psychopathological distress through decreased Covid-19 related distress. Interestingly, results also showed that psychopathological distress was higher for women and unmarried respondents, and negatively associated with age and square meters per person at home. The theoretical and practical implications for social policies contrasting the Covid-19 pandemic are discussed.

在第一波 Covid-19 疫情期间，保持社交距离和居家隔离对于帮助政府拉平感染曲线至关重要，但也引发了人们对可能出现的负面后果的担忧，例如长期隔离或久坐不动的生活方式。在这种情况下，园艺活动已被确定为一种合理的工具，可以缓解强制居家隔离对心理健康的影响。在本文中，我们调查了意大利第一波 Covid-19 封锁期间园艺与心理病理困扰之间的关系。据推测，参与园艺活动可以通过减少与新冠肺炎相关的压力来促进心理健康。在 2020 年 3 月至 5 月意大利封锁期间，通过使用社交媒体向 N = 303 名参与者分享了一项在线调查，测量与 Covid-19 相关的痛苦、精神病理学痛苦、从事园艺活动以及一系列社会人口和居住协变量。正如预期的那样，使用引导程序测试的调解模型表明，园艺通过减少与 Covid-19 相关的痛苦来降低心理病理痛苦。有趣的是，结果还表明，女性和未婚受访者的精神病理困扰更高，并且与年龄和家庭人均平方米数呈负相关。讨论了对比 Covid-19 大流行的社会政策的理论和实践意义。使用引导程序测试的调解模型表明，园艺通过减少与 Covid-19 相关的痛苦来降低心理病理痛苦。有趣的是，结果还表明，女性和未婚受访者的精神病理困扰更高，并且与年龄和家庭人均平方米数呈负相关。讨论了对比 Covid-19 大流行的社会政策的理论和实践意义。使用引导程序测试的调解模型表明，园艺通过减少与 Covid-19 相关的痛苦来降低心理病理痛苦。有趣的是，结果还表明，女性和未婚受访者的精神病理困扰更高，并且与年龄和家庭人均平方米数呈负相关。讨论了对比 Covid-19 大流行的社会政策的理论和实践意义。