Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Building 23, 11 Kirinari St., Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 12;19(16):9976. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19169976.
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) interventions have been implemented in many economically developed countries to improve children's engagement in Active School Travel (AST). Evaluations have highlighted inconsistencies in SR2S intervention outcomes, raising questions as to how, why, and under what contextual conditions these interventions work. This review used a Rapid Realist Review (RRR) methodology to build, test, and refine an overarching program theory that unpicks the contextual factors and underlying mechanisms influencing children's engagement in AST. From the 45 included documents, 16 refined Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configurations (CMOCs) were developed and clustered into three partial program theories (i.e., implementor/implementation, child, and parent), with the associated mechanisms of: (1) School Reliance; (2) School Priority; (3) Fun; (4) Pride; (5) Perceived Safety; (6) Distrust; (7) Convenience; (8) Perceived Capabilities; and (9) Reassurance. The overarching program theory delineates the pathways between intervention implementation, children's motivation, parental decision-making, and children's engagement in AST. The findings suggest SR2S interventions can motivate children to engage in AST, but whether this motivation is translated into engagement is determined by parental decision-making. This review is novel for highlighting that many of the factors influencing parental decision-making are contextually driven and appear to be unaddressed by the current suite of SR2S intervention strategies. The review additionally highlights the complexity of parental perceptions of safety, with the traffic and the road environment shaping only part of this multidimensional mechanism. Practitioners and policymakers need to tailor SR2S interventions to local contexts to better influence parental decision-making for children's engagement in AST.
安全上学路 (SR2S) 干预措施已在许多经济发达国家实施，以提高儿童积极上学出行 (AST) 的参与度。评估结果突出了 SR2S 干预措施结果的不一致性，引发了这些干预措施如何、为何以及在何种背景条件下发挥作用的问题。本研究采用快速现实主义审查 (RRR) 方法，构建、测试和完善了一个总体方案理论，该理论揭示了影响儿童参与 AST 的背景因素和潜在机制。从 45 篇纳入的文献中，确定并聚类出了 16 个经过精炼的上下文-机制-结果配置 (CMOC)，并将其分为三个部分方案理论（即执行者/实施、儿童和家长），以及相关的机制：（1）学校依赖；（2）学校优先级；（3）乐趣；（4）自豪；（5）感知安全；（6）不信任；（7）方便；（8）感知能力；和（9）安心。总体方案理论描绘了干预措施实施、儿童动机、家长决策和儿童参与 AST 之间的途径。研究结果表明，SR2S 干预措施可以激发儿童参与 AST 的积极性，但这种积极性是否转化为参与，取决于家长的决策。本研究的新颖之处在于强调了影响家长决策的许多因素是由背景驱动的，而当前的一系列 SR2S 干预策略似乎没有解决这些因素。该研究还强调了家长对安全的看法的复杂性，其中交通和道路环境只是这个多维度机制的一部分。实践者和政策制定者需要根据当地情况调整 SR2S 干预措施，以更好地影响家长对儿童参与 AST 的决策。
