Epidemiological studies have established positive associations of urban nature with cognitive development and mental health. However, why specifically these health benefits are received remains unclear, especially in adolescents. We used longitudinal data in a cohort of 3,568 adolescents aged 9 to 15 years at 31 schools across London, UK, to examine the associations between natural-environment types and adolescents’ cognitive development, mental health and overall well-being. We characterized natural-environment types in three tiers, where natural space was distinguished into green and blue space, and green space was further distinguished into woodland and grassland. We showed that, after adjusting for other confounding variables, higher daily exposure to woodland, but not grassland, was associated with higher scores for cognitive development and a lower risk of emotional and behavioural problems for adolescents. A similar but smaller effect was seen for green space, but not blue space, with higher scores for cognitive development. Our results suggest that urban planning decisions to optimize ecosystem benefits linked to cognitive development and mental health should carefully consider the type of natural environment included.

流行病学研究已经建立了城市自然与认知发展和心理健康的正相关。然而，具体为什么会获得这些健康益处仍不清楚，尤其是在青少年中。我们使用了来自英国伦敦 31 所学校的 3,568 名 9 至 15 岁青少年的纵向数据，以研究自然环境类型与青少年认知发展、心理健康和整体幸福感之间的关联。我们将自然环境类型划分为三个层次，其中自然空间分为绿色和蓝色空间，绿色空间进一步分为林地和草地。我们表明，在调整其他混杂变量后，较高的每日林地暴露量，而不是草地，与青少年的认知发展得分较高以及情绪和行为问题的风险较低有关。绿色空间也有类似但较小的影响，但蓝色空间没有，认知发展得分更高。我们的结果表明，优化与认知发展和心理健康相关的生态系统利益的城市规划决策应该仔细考虑所包括的自然环境类型。