The Mitigating Effects of Water Sound Attributes on Stress Responses to Traffic Noise

Abstract

Traffic noise is a significant risk factor for adverse health outcomes. Despite burgeoning interest in reducing the harmful health effects of traffic noise, research on the influence of physical and psychoacoustic attributes has been sparse. Consequently, this study examines the impacts of various acoustic attributes on mitigating stress response to traffic noise using dependent variables derived from electrodermal activity. The results indicate that: (a) mixing water sound (noise) at a low signal-to-noise ratio effectively mitigated stress response to traffic noise (signal), whereas mixing white noise with high fractal complexity (noise) significantly induced stress; and (b) sound pressure and acoustic sharpness significantly reduced stress response to traffic noise. Conversely, attributes such as high fractal complexity, moderate and high signal-to-noise ratios, acoustic loudness, and mean frequency significantly increased stress. This research offers a viable blueprint for creating evidence-based noise mitigation strategies that focus on intervention sound attributes.