Determinants of uptake and maintenance of active commuting to school

Abstract

The objective was to identify determinants of uptake and maintenance of active school travel (AST) over 4 years in children aged 9 at baseline. Data from wave 1 (n=8502) and 2 (n=7479) of the Growing Up in Ireland study were analysed. At 9-and 13-years 25% and 20% engaged in AST. Children were more likely to maintain or take-up AST if they lived in an urban area. Change in distance to school influenced both maintenance and adoption of AST, with a negative impact seen for increased distance between 9 and 13 years and a positive impact seem for decreased distance. Some factors which predict uptake and maintenance of AST are modifiable and can inform intervention development.

A Scoping Review of Children and Adolescents’ Active Travel in Ireland

“…Overall, very few of the reviewed research items make explicit the theoretical underpinnings that inform the study design, mostly relying on ecological psychology models and frameworks [32,34,43,45]. McMinn et al [41] present the sole study relying on a social psychology model with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) [47].…”

“…By using an ecological framework, Lambe [43] found similar results and has warned about the importance of differing intention from behaviour. Murtagh, Dempster, and Murphy's longitudinal study [45] make use of one of Bronfenbrenner's earlier versions of the bioecological model of human development (1979) [48], considering it to structure the layers of data from the individual (e.g., body mass index, BMI) to the context layers of the immediate settings (microsystems of family, neighbourhood, school, and others). The authors then analyse the associations of those factors with active school travel patterns.…”

“…The publications presented in the current scoping review included a minimum sample size of 73 children [39] to a maximum of 16,060 children [36]. Some of the included studies combined data from more than one project [27,40,43,45] subsequently leading to an increased combined number of participants (e.g., Harrington et al [27,40] with a total sample from both studies ≈30,000 participants). Of special interest is the Census statement document [44], which included commuter data from all Irish primary and secondary students (896,575 commuters).…”

“…Most studies focused on children in 5th to 6th class (10-12 years of age) of primary school, while few studies included students at a younger age (i.e., <10 years of age) [33,34,41,45]. Regarding other demographic information provided, more than half of the studies reported participants' gender (almost even distribution between boys and girls), and a few further studies reported the area of residence and socioeconomic status (i.e., [32,38,39]).…”

“…Murtagh, Dempster, and Murphy (2016) [45] Cross-sectional Sample from "Growing Up in Ireland" study; Wave 1 n = 8502 (9 years); Wave 2 n = 7479 (13 years). Repeat cross-sectional study of a natural experiment n = 1459 5th-6th class students from all the 21 schools in 3 towns (n = 1038 students in 2 intervention towns; n = 419 students in 1 control town).…”