PhD Project - Solitude, Safety, and Self: A Qualitative Investigation of Women's Solo Outdoor Activity and Mental Health
Applications for this PhD project are now open. The deadline for applications is 6 April 2026.
Outdoor activity is increasingly recognised as beneficial for mental health, with evidence demonstrating positive effects on anxiety, depression, and psychological wellbeing. However, most research in this area has focused on group-based activities and structured interventions. In contrast, solo outdoor activities—such as solitary walking, hiking, running, or wilderness experiences—remain under-examined, despite being widely used as self-directed coping strategies. Many individuals intentionally choose solo outdoor engagement because it offers psychological space, reflection, and autonomy that are not always available in social or supervised contexts.
Qualitative research indicates that solo outdoor engagement can support cognitive restoration, emotional self-regulation, and shifts in perspective linked to reflection and experiences of awe (Song et al., 2023). These benefits appear to be shaped by uninterrupted, embodied engagement with natural environments and freedom from social demands (Stults-Kolehmainen, 2023). Women represent a particularly important yet under-researched group within this context. Although women are increasingly participating in solo outdoor activity, dominant societal narratives frequently frame such engagement as unsafe or inappropriate. These narratives contribute to persistent barriers including internalised fear, social scrutiny, and limited representation within outdoor cultures reflecting socially constructed rather than objective risk perceptions.
Evidence suggests that repeated solo outdoor engagement can challenge these narratives, supporting confidence, resilience, and self-efficacy, and enabling women to renegotiate their relationship with safety, independence, and identity (Thomas & Tibbert, 2025). Despite this, there is limited understanding of the psychological processes through which solo outdoor activity supports mental health, how women navigate gendered constraints, or how these activities function within broader coping strategies across the life course. As a result, solo outdoor activity remains largely absent from evidence-based mental health promotion and public health guidance.
Project Contact:
Dr Stephanie Tibbert
Email: stibbert@aecc.ac.uk
Details
This PhD project will examine how women experience solo outdoor activity in relation to mental health and wellbeing. This project particularly suits candidates with interests in qualitative methodology and critical perspectives on gender, as it requires both rigorous research skills and willingness to interrogate taken-for-granted assumptions about risk, safety, and women’s bodies.
The supervisory team brings combined expertise in qualitative methodology, mental health research, and gender-informed approaches, ensuring robust support for candidates developing skills in in-depth interviewing, thematic analysis, and critical research design. The precise direction of the research will be shaped in close collaboration with the supervisory team; however, possible research directions include:
- how women conceptualise solo outdoor activity as a coping strategy for mental health and wellbeing
- how gendered narratives of risk and safety influence participation, decision-making, and emotional experience
- the psychological processes (e.g., emotional regulation, restoration, perspective change) that underpin perceived benefits
- barriers and enablers to solo outdoor engagement at individual, social, and structural levels
- how solo outdoor activity contributes to identity development, confidence, and self-efficacy over time
This PhD offers the opportunity to develop original, impactful research that challenges gendered assumptions about outdoor activity, develops understanding of strategies used by women to enhance mental health, and informs more inclusive approaches to wellbeing and preventative mental health practice.
By advancing understanding of solo outdoor activity as a mental health resource for women, this research could shape public health policy, outdoor recreation programming, and clinical practice towards more inclusive and evidence-informed approaches to wellbeing.
Funding 
HSU is offering up to three fee waivers for UK home applicants starting in October 2026. All eligible UK home applicants will automatically be considered for fee waiver support, which is awarded competitively based on the excellence of the candidate.
International applicants are unfortunately not eligible for fee waivers.
All applicants are expected to have financial plans in place to cover their studies and should not rely on a fee waiver.
Self-funded students are also welcome to apply for this project. Self-funded students can be UK home students or international students.
Availability
Available to both UK and International students
Potential Supervisors
References
Song, J. Y., Klebl, C., & Bastian, B. (2023). Awe promotes moral expansiveness via the small-self. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1097627
Stults-Kolehmainen, M. A. (2023). Humans have a basic physical and psychological need to move the body: Physical activity as a primary drive. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1134049
Thomas, D & Tibbert, S.J. (2025). Solo steps: A critical realist analysis of the risks, motivations, and psychological benefits of solo hiking in England. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, 51
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