In a new study published in International Journal of Environmental Research Research and Public Health, researchers found evidence that a holiday in the tropics can improve psychological well-being. In addition, the new findings indicate that even experiencing “traveler’s diarrhea” while abroad can’t ruin these psychological benefits.
People often travel on vacation because they believe vacation is associated with positive effects on mental well-being; however, research on this topic is scarce. Research shows that mental well-being declines during the winter months for individuals who struggle with seasonal affect disorder, but respond well to light therapy via artificial light or sunshine.
Researchers Tanja Laukkala and colleagues were interested in investigating the effects that tropical holidays have on psychological well-being and to determine whether contracting traveler’s diarrhea during different times of the year affected psychological well-being.
Laukkala and colleagues examined data from 729 healthy Finnish individuals who traveled to Benin, West Africa, as part of a clinical field trial testing an oral diarrhoeal vaccine. Participants provided samples of their stool before, during, and after their vacation and were assessed for psychological distress via the General Health Questionnaire-12.
Results from this study show that a tropical vacation increased psychological well-being for the majority of participants, regardless of gender and age. However, these benefits in psychological well-being tapered off about a month after the vacation.
Participants experienced poorer psychological well-being before the vacation compared to during and after the vacation. Laukkala and colleagues also found that participants who went on a tropical vacation during winter experienced longer lasting psychological benefits compared to participants who went on a tropical vacation other times of the year.
Similar to other researchers’ findings, Laukkala and colleagues found that a majority of participants (71%) experienced traveler’s diarrhea, but this did not affect participants’ psychological well-being during their vacation. However, participants who had traveler’s diarrhea after their vacation had poorer psychological well-being compared to participants who had traveler’s diarrhea during their vacation.
Overall, Laukkala and colleagues argue that their data support previous findings that tropical vacations improve psychological well-being. A tropical vacation in the winter time appears to yield longer-lasting psychological benefits compared to tropical vacation in the summertime.
The study, “A Two-Week Vacation in the Tropics and Psychological Well-Being—An Observational Follow-Up Study“, was authored by by Tanja Laukkala, Tom Rosenström, and Anu Kantele.