What Influences Parents' Fear about Children's Independent Mobility? Evidence from a State-Wide Survey of Australian Parents

Eine Perspektive von Grundschulkindern auf Bedingungsfaktoren der aktiven und eigenständigen Mobilität – eine qualitative Studie

Nur wenige Kinder erreichen die Bewegungsempfehlungen der Weltgesundheitsorganisation und profitieren von den gesundheitlichen Effekten der körperlichen Aktivität. Die Förderung nicht-organisierter Bewegungsaktivitäten, wie die aktive und eigenständige Mobilität, ist ein relevanter Ansatzpunkt für Interventionen zur Bewegungsförderung bei Kindern im Grundschulalter. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war es, hinderliche und förderliche Faktoren für die eigenständige und aktive Mobilität auf dem Schulweg zu identifizieren, aus welchen geeignete Interventionsmaßnahmen abgeleitet werden können.

Im Rahmen der Studie wurden zwölf Grundschulkinder im Alter von acht bis zehn Jahren qualitativ anhand der Photovoice-Methode zu ihrem Schulweg befragt. Basierend auf dem sozial-ökologischen Modell wurden individuelle, soziale und physische Einflussfaktoren aus den Daten extrahiert. Insbesondere die elterliche Erlaubnis, eine mangelnde fahrrad- und fußgängerfreundliche Infrastruktur und rücksichtslose motorisierte Verkehrsteilnehmer*innen hindern Kinder an einem aktiven und eigenständigen Zurücklegen des Schulwegs.

Anhand der Studie wurden vielfältige Faktoren auf unterschiedlichen sozial-ökologischen Ebenen identifiziert, welche in Interventionsmaßnahmen zur Förderung eines aktiven und eigenständigen Schulwegs berücksichtigt werden sollten. Zudem sollten Verbesserungsvorschläge der Grundschüler*innen zur Ermöglichung eines aktiven und eigenständigen Schulwegs in der Stadtplanung und -entwicklung kritisch reflektiert und berücksichtigt werden, um kindgerechte Umwelten zu schaffen.

Effects of Attending Extracurricular Lessons and Cram School on Independent Mobility in Japanese Children

Independent mobility and its related factors were examined among Japanese elementary school children. Based on the responses of 1,824 mothers with elementary school-aged children, the effects of demographic variables such as children’s grade, gender, and birth order as well as regional characteristics, neighborhood environment, distance to and means of getting to school, children’s use of bicycles, keys and cell phones, and the number of weekdays spent attending lessons or cram schools were explored. Factor analysis revealed that independent mobility comprised activities in public places, including outings to supermarkets, and traveling by bus and train as well as activities in the school district such as visiting friends’ homes and parks. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses that comprised five steps were conducted in which the number of days of attending lessons and cram school was entered in the final step. There was a strong gender effect and grade effect for outings to public places and activities in the school district. Concerns about traffic accidents and security were associated with lower independent mobility. With regard to activities in the school district, proximity to school, use of bicycles, and possession of house keys had a positive effect. It is noteworthy that the effect of the number of days spent attending lessons or cram school was observed even after the other variables were entered, thus resulting in a negative effect. It is recommended that further comparative studies involving other Asian countries be conducted to evaluate the effects of extracurricular activities.

Enabling Better Physical Activity and Screen Time Behaviours for Adolescents from Middle Eastern Backgrounds: Semi-Structured Interviews with Parents

The unrelenting obesity pandemic in Middle Eastern (ME) adolescents living in Australia warrants culturally responsive and locally engineered interventions. Given the influence of parents on the lifestyle behaviours of adolescents, this qualitative study aimed to capture the opinions of ME parents on the barriers and enablers to sufficient physical activity and limiting screen time behaviours in adolescents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 ME parents (female) aged 35–59 years old, most of whom resided in lower socioeconomic areas (n = 19). A reflexive thematic analysis using the Theoretical Domains Framework and the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour model was performed for coding. Parents voiced confidence in their knowledge of the importance of physical activity and limiting screen time but were less optimistic in their ability to enable change in behaviours, especially for older adolescents without outside support. Despite adolescents having the necessary skills to engage in a wide array of sports, the parents admitted deep fears regarding the safety of the social environment and restricted their children’s independent mobility. Gender differences were noted, with parents reporting older girls expressing disinterest in sports and having limited physical opportunities to participate in sports at school. It may be that a community-based participatory framework is needed to improve physical activity opportunities and to address specific physical, social, and cultural barriers.

Built and Natural Environmental Correlates of Parental Safety Concerns for Children's Active Travel to School

This cross-sectional study examines built and natural environmental correlates of parental safety concerns for children's active travel to school (ATS), controlling for socio-demographic, attitudinal, and social factors. Questionnaire surveys (n = 3291) completed by parents who had 1st-6th grade children were collected in 2011 from 20 elementary schools in Austin, Texas. Objectively-measured built and natural environmental data were derived from two software programs: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI). Ordinal least square regressions were used for statistical analyses in this study. Results from the fully adjusted final model showed that bike lanes, the presence of highway and railroads, the presence of sex offenders, and steep slopes along the home-to-school route were associated with increased parental safety concerns, while greater intersection density and greater tree canopy coverage along the route were associated with decreased parental safety concerns. Natural elements and walking-friendly elements of the built environment appear important in reducing parental safety concerns, which is a necessary step toward promoting children's ATS.

Using Paid and Free Facebook Methods to Recruit Australian Parents to an Online Survey: An Evaluation

Background

The prevalence of social media makes it a potential alternative to traditional offline methods of recruiting and engaging participants in health research. Despite burgeoning use and interest, few studies have rigorously evaluated its effectiveness and feasibility in terms of recruitment rates and costs, sample representativeness, and retention.

Objective

This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using Facebook to recruit employed Australian parents to an online survey about managing work and family demands, specifically to examine (1) recruitment rates and costs; (2) sample representativeness, compared with a population-based cohort of parents; and (3) retention, including demographic and health characteristics of parents who returned to complete a follow-up survey 6 weeks later.

Methods

Recruitment was conducted using 20 paid Facebook advertising campaigns, supplemented with free advertising approaches such as posts on relevant Facebook pages and requests for professional networks to circulate the survey link via Facebook. Recruitment rates and costs were evaluated using the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys, including view rate, participation rate, completion rate, cost per consent, and cost per completer. Sample representativeness was evaluated by comparing demographic and outcome variables with a comparable sample from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children including educational attainment, marital status, country of birth, neighborhood disadvantage, work-family conflict, and psychological distress. Retention was evaluated by comparing the number and demographic characteristics of participants at recruitment and at 6-week follow-up.

Results

Recruitment strategies together resulted in 6653 clicks on the survey link, from which 5378 parents consented to participate and 4665 (86.74%) completed the survey. Of those who completed the survey, 85.94% (4009/4665) agreed to be recontacted, with 57.79% (2317/4009) completing the follow-up survey (ie, 43.08% [2317/5378] of parents who consented to the initial survey). Paid Facebook advertising recruited nearly 75% of the sample at Aus $2.32 per completed survey (Aus $7969 spent, 3440 surveys completed). Compared with a population-based sample, participants at baseline were more likely to be university educated (P<.001), experience greater work-family conflict (P<.001) and psychological distress (P<.001), and were less likely to be born outside Australia (P<.001) or live in a disadvantaged neighborhood (P<.001).

Conclusions

Facebook provided a feasible, rapid method to recruit a large national sample of parents for health research. However, some sample biases were observed and should be considered when recruiting participants via Facebook. Retention of participants at 6- to 8-week follow-up was less than half the initial sample; this may reflect limited ongoing participant engagement for those recruited through social media, compared with face-to-face.

Children's Independent Mobility: Current Knowledge, Future Directions, and Public Health Implications

Environmental changes significantly impact health behavior. Active travel behavior is mostly affected by increasing motorization, urban sprawl, and traffic safety. Especially for children, active and independent travel can contribute to physical activity, social and motor development, and other health-related outcomes. A reduced number of children engaging in independent mobility over the last 20 years demanded researchers to further examine the construct of children’s independent mobility. By examining relevant literature, this narrative review aims to provide the current state of knowledge on children’s independent mobility, and identify future directions in research, as well as practical implications. From a public health perspective, considering children’s independent mobility in intervention programs is recommended, since it is associated with numerous health and environmental benefits. To develop interventions, multilevel socio-ecological influences on children’s independent mobility are widely examined; however, evidence is limited due to heterogeneous measurements and a lack of high-quality prospective studies. To oppose the decline in children’s independent mobility, further analysis using comparable measures is needed to understand the determinants of children’s independent mobility and to enable international comparison.

Social and physical environmental correlates of independent mobility in children: a systematic review taking sex/gender differences into account

BACKGROUND

Children's independent mobility (CIM) is an important contributor to physical activity and health in children. However, in the last 20 years CIM has significantly decreased. To develop effective intervention programs to promote CIM, the impact of the environment on CIM must be identified. This review seeks to provide an overview of sex/gender-specific socio-ecological correlates of CIM.

METHODS

A systematic literature search of five databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, Medline, Web of Science) was conducted with a priori defined eligibility criteria and identified 1838 potential articles published between January 1990 and November 2017. Two independent reviewers screened the literature and identified and rated methodological quality of the studies. Related factors of CIM were summarized separately for CIM license (parental permission to travel independently) and CIM destination (destinations to which a child travels independently), and separately for boys and girls using a semi-quantitative method.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven peer-reviewed journal articles were identified which examined the relationship between the social and physical environment and CIM. Only seven studies reported results divided by sex/gender. Most associations between the environment and CIM were found in the expected direction (positive or negative) or not associated at all. The social environment seemed to be more influential for ensuring CIM than the physical environment. Neighborhood safety, fear of crime and stranger, parental support, and perception of traffic were important social environmental factors influencing CIM, while car ownership, distance, and neighborhood design were relevant physical environmental attributes. Few studies examined sex/gender-related environmental correlates of independent mobility, and those findings were inconsistent.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this systematic review serve as suggestions for intervention programs to increase CIM and to identify future directions in research. To establish a robust comprehension of the impact of the social and physical environment on CIM, further sex/gender-sensitive studies using comparable measurements for CIM and environmental correlates are needed.