Objective:To investigate the relationship between natural contact,executive function,and general-ized anxiety symptoms among college students.Methods:A total of 3 243 college students completed three assess-ments over a 10-month period(T1,T2,T3),using the Green Space Contact(GSC)items of the Natural Contact Questionnaire(NCQ),Web-based Executive Function Questionnaire(WEFQ),and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale(GAD-7).Cross-lagged panel and longitudinal mediation analyses were conducted.Results:At all three time points,GSC,WEFQ,and GAD-7 scores were significantly correlated with each other(|r|=0.06-0.59,Ps＜0.01).Cross-lagged analysis showed that GSC scores and GAD-7 scores revealed bidirectional predictive effects(β=-0.04--0.03,Ps＜0.05).Longitudinal mediation analysis indicated that T2 WEFQ scores mediated the rela-tionship between T1 GSC and T3 GAD-7 scores.The mediating effect was-0.01(95％CI=-0.010--0.001),accounting for 12.82％of the total effect.Furthermore,T2 WEFQ scores also mediated the relationship between T1 GAD-7 scores and T3 GSC scores.The mediating effect was-0.01(95％CI=-0.019--0.005),accounting for 48.00％of the total effect.Conclusion:Higher frequency of natural contact is associated with lower generalized anxiety symptoms in college students.Executive function plays a bidirectional mediating role in the as-sociation between natural contact and generalized anxiety symptoms.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between natural contact,executive function,and general-ized anxiety symptoms among college students.Methods:A total of 3 243 college students completed three assess-ments over a 10-month period(T1,T2,T3),using the Green Space Contact(GSC)items of the Natural Contact Questionnaire(NCQ),Web-based Executive Function Questionnaire(WEFQ),and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale(GAD-7).Cross-lagged panel and longitudinal mediation analyses were conducted.Results:At all three time points,GSC,WEFQ,and GAD-7 scores were significantly correlated with each other(|r|=0.06-0.59,Ps＜0.01).Cross-lagged analysis showed that GSC scores and GAD-7 scores revealed bidirectional predictive effects(β=-0.04--0.03,Ps＜0.05).Longitudinal mediation analysis indicated that T2 WEFQ scores mediated the rela-tionship between T1 GSC and T3 GAD-7 scores.The mediating effect was-0.01(95％CI=-0.010--0.001),accounting for 12.82％of the total effect.Furthermore,T2 WEFQ scores also mediated the relationship between T1 GAD-7 scores and T3 GSC scores.The mediating effect was-0.01(95％CI=-0.019--0.005),accounting for 48.00％of the total effect.Conclusion:Higher frequency of natural contact is associated with lower generalized anxiety symptoms in college students.Executive function plays a bidirectional mediating role in the as-sociation between natural contact and generalized anxiety symptoms.