Study design
’ psychological distress
RECRUITMENT
We employed a multi-site experimental design with repeated measures to examine the effects of the therapeutic gardening program on the participants’ psychological distress and well-being. Depending on the recruitment center, participants were assigned to the gardening or control group. The gardening group participated in nature-based therapy for 30 sessions, whereas the control group did not receive any nature-based activities or intervention. The same outcome measures were employed for both groups except for therapeutic alliances with therapists.