Tristram Clara, Reimers Anne K, Renninger Denise, Beck Franziska, Demetriou Yolanda, Marzi Isabel
Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2023 Sep 14;14:1227612. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1227612. eCollection 2023.
The present study aims to understand the familial decision-making process on transport mode choice in adolescents with a focus on the parental perspective within this process.
Active travel contributes to adolescents' overall physical activity and its positive health effects. Based on the social-learning theory, especially parents are assigned a central role for adolescents' travel behavior. The aim of the present study was to examine how parents are involved in the decision-making process on transport mode choice in adolescents.
The study is part of the cross-sectional mixed-methods ARRIVE study which includes semi-structured interviews with mothers ( = 12) and fathers ( = 7) of 11- to 14-year-old German adolescents. The interviews focused on travel behavior in adolescents and the decision-making process on transport mode choice from the parental perspective. All interviews were analyzed inductively using Thematic Analysis.
Our study revealed that parents do not primarily decide for or against active travel in adolescents, but are mostly involved in the decision-making process, especially in case of a deviation from the main transport mode. Different forms of parental involvement in the decision-making process were identified. Some parents acted as main decision makers which is the highest form of involvement while others gave their children complete freedom of choose a transport mode for themselves. These parents accepted their child's choice fully which shows a low involvement in the decision-making process.
The results provide a deeper understanding of the familial decision-making process on travel behavior in adolescents. The results indicate an occasionally parental involvement in the decision-making process on the mainly used transport mode by adolescents, and that mothers and fathers are always involved when deviating from the main mode.
Further research should investigate changes in travel behavior from childhood to young adulthood to understand long-term travel decisions in families. Due to the findings that parents are often involved in the decision-making process on transport mode choice and that they mainly reported safety concerns as barriers to their children's active travel, further research should focus especially on the social and physical environment of adolescents.
本研究旨在了解青少年家庭在交通方式选择上的决策过程，重点关注该过程中父母的观点。
积极出行有助于青少年的总体身体活动及其对健康的积极影响。基于社会学习理论，父母在青少年的出行行为中尤其被赋予核心角色。本研究的目的是考察父母如何参与青少年交通方式选择的决策过程。
该研究是横断面混合方法ARRIVE研究的一部分，包括对11至14岁德国青少年的母亲（n = 12）和父亲（n = 7）进行半结构化访谈。访谈聚焦于青少年的出行行为以及从父母角度看交通方式选择的决策过程。所有访谈均采用主题分析法进行归纳分析。
我们的研究表明，父母并非主要决定青少年是否选择积极出行，而是大多参与决策过程，尤其是在偏离主要交通方式的情况下。确定了父母参与决策过程的不同形式。一些父母充当主要决策者，这是最高形式的参与，而另一些父母则给予孩子完全自由选择自己的交通方式。这些父母完全接受孩子的选择，这表明在决策过程中参与度较低。
研究结果为青少年出行行为的家庭决策过程提供了更深入的理解。结果表明，父母偶尔会参与青少年主要使用的交通方式的决策过程，而当偏离主要方式时，父母双方都会参与。
进一步的研究应调查从儿童到青年期出行行为的变化，以了解家庭中的长期出行决策。鉴于父母经常参与交通方式选择的决策过程，且他们主要将安全担忧作为孩子积极出行的障碍，进一步的研究应特别关注青少年的社会和物理环境。
