Mindful engagement interventions have been shown to improve psychological benefits of nature experiences but to date there has been little evaluation of their efficacy compared with other forms of engagement. An online experimental study was conducted to compare different forms of engagement with nature. Before and after a 20-min outdoor experience, participants (n = 215) completed surveys on state-mindfulness, connection with nature, and mood, and then the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). Participants were randomly allocated to one of four engagement intervention groups: mindful engagement, directed engagement, mind wandering, and an unguided control group. The groups did not differ on connection with nature or positive affect after the nature experience, when accounting for the baseline measures, however the mind wandering group reported significantly lower negative affect than the directed engagement group. Overall, SART outcomes indicated that the unguided control group had the greatest level of attention restoration, suggesting that all three engagement interventions taxed the attention system. Mediation analyses indicated that there was an indirect effect of state mindfulness on the psychological outcomes, primarily for the mindful engagement group when contrasted with the unguided control. The findings challenge the idea that all forms of heightened engagement enhance the experience of nature and resulting psychological outcomes. We use these findings to outline considerations for designing and applying engagement interventions in nature for specific outcomes.

正念参与干预已被证明可以改善自然体验的心理益处，但迄今为止，与其他参与形式相比，很少有人对其功效进行评估。进行了一项在线实验研究，以比较与自然接触的不同形式。在 20 分钟的户外体验前后，参与者（n = 215) 完成了关于状态正念、与自然的联系和情绪的调查，然后是持续注意响应任务 (SART)。参与者被随机分配到四个参与干预组之一：正念参与、定向参与、思维游走和无指导的对照组。在考虑基线测量时，这些组在与自然的联系或自然体验后的积极影响方面没有差异，但是，走神组报告的消极影响显着低于定向参与组。总体而言，SART 结果表明，非指导对照组的注意力恢复程度最高，这表明所有三种参与干预措施都对注意力系统造成了负担。中介分析表明，状态正念对心理结果有间接影响，与无指导控制相比，主要是正念参与组。这些发现挑战了这样一种观点，即所有形式的高度参与都会增强对自然的体验和由此产生的心理结果。我们使用这些发现来概述为特定结果设计和应用自然参与干预的考虑因素。