Adolescent Perspectives on the Impact of Peers and Social Media on Active Travel and Physical Activity: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Physical activity (PA), including active travel (AT), is related to healthy adolescent development and wellbeing, however, behavior rates are low. Simultaneously, adolescent screen use, and engagement in social media platforms (SMP) is very high. The aim of this mixed methods study was to explore the relationship between peer engagement and SMP and adolescent AT and PA. We employed an exploratory sequential design that included integration of results of qualitative interviews with 25 adolescent-parent dyads and quantitative data from a cross-sectional survey in a representative sample of Hebrew-speaking adolescents in secondary schools across Israel ( n = 2,911). Reflexive thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative study; constructs identified served as the basis for development of a quantitative data collection instrument. Correlation and linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate associations between key quantitative analysis variables. The integrated analysis primarily identified convergence between datasets expressed in narrative weaving and joint displays. We found that AT with peers is a social activity; AT and PA are an opportunity for peer-to-peer communication without screens; and SMP are utilized to promote AT and PA. Interventions that emphasize these key constructs as well as use of SMP may increase adolescent AT and PA behaviors.