Parental perception of the built environment as barriers to, and facilitators for, children’s active travel to school.

Abstract

Background

Children’s active travel to school is an important opportunity to increase physical activity. However, the number of children walking or cycling to school has declined over the last 25 years. The overarching aim of this thesis was to establish how parental perceptions of the built environment influenced active travel to school and explore the influence of deprivation.

Methods

This thesis employed a mixed-method approach, combining evidence from a systematic review, qualitative and quantitative empirical studies using a synthesis of converging results.

Results

Active travel to school may be influenced by parental perceptions of the built environment, particularly safety from traffic, along with fear and worry about accidents. This may include the perceptions that there are not enough places to cross busy roads in the neighbourhood, and that walking or cycling is dangerous because of the traffic in the neighbourhood. There is also some evidence to suggest that the likelihood of travelling actively to school may be influenced by parental perceptions of the built environment in different ways depending upon the area in which a family lives, based on the English Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). The findings in this thesis also suggest that parental perceptions of the built environment e.g., safety from traffic, are not always a true representation of an objective measure of the built environment e.g., the number of road traffic collisions involving children on the school route.

Conclusion

Interventions to influence parental perceptions through individual behaviour change interventions to increase knowledge and education, alongside changes to the physical environment may help to shape children’s walking and cycling behaviour on their route to school. Different approaches may be required depending upon the area of deprivation in which a family lives. Such interventions may lead to a change in parental perception of traffic and road safety. If successful, an increase in active travel would then follow.

Date of Award	Mar 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Coventry University
Supervisor	Petra Wark (Supervisor), Lou Atkinson (Supervisor), Michael Duncan (Supervisor), Gemma Pearce (Supervisor) & Stefanie Williams (Supervisor)