Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

that they judge themselves capable of managing. Perceived self-efficacy
regulates human function in four major ways (Bandura, 1977):
i) Cognitive: People with high self-efficacy are more likely to have high
aspirations, think soundly, set themselves difficult challenges, and
commit themselves firmly to meeting those challenges. They have
a tendency to visualize successful outcomes instead of dwelling on
personal deficiencies or ways that things might go wrong.
ii) Motivational: Motivation and self-belief is stronger if people believe
that they can attain their goals. Self-efficacy beliefs determine the goals
people set for themselves, how much effort they expend, and how long
they persevere.
iii) Mood or affect: Self-efficacy beliefs regulate the motion states. People
that lack self-efficacy are more likely to magnify risks, while people
with high self-efficacy deal with stress and anxiety by acting in ways
that make the environment less threatening. They are also more likely
to calm themselves and seek support from other people. Likewise,
persons with high coping abilities have better control over disturbing
thoughts. There is also a connection between low self-efficacy and
depression. Low self-efficacy causes the defeat of one’s hope, thus
resulting in low mood. This in turn will lead to weakened self-efficacy
and causes a downward cycle.
People with low self-efficacy avoid difficult tasks, they lower their
goals, and seek less support from others. Failures make them lose faith
in themselves, and in turn contribute to lowered mood and depression
(Bandura, 1982, 1986, 1997).
Research has shown that therapeutic riding, for example, can improve selfconfidence,
social competence and quality of life (Fitzpatrick and Tebay
1997; Burgon, 2003; Bizub et al, 2003). However, there are to date few
long-term follow-up studies of the impact of green care interventions on
self-efficacy. A recent doctoral thesis based on a randomised, controlled
study of a three-month intervention with dairy cattle for patients with
severe mental health illness (mainly mood disorders, anxiety disorders,
personality disorders, and schizophrenia), showed that anxiety was lower
and self-efficacy higher at follow-up six months after the end of the
intervention compared with baseline for the treatment group, but not for the
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