Conference Agenda

Few children reach the recommended levels of at least 60 minutes daily physical activity. To counter this trend, active school transportation (AST) has been suggested as a promising strategy, since AST can contribute to roughly half of the recommendation. Parents play a key role in the decision-making process concerning their children’s mode of transport to school. Previous research has shown that a form of social approval (i.e., injunctive and descriptive norm) seems to be involved in the decision-making process. This study advances the understanding of norms by including a form of social pressure that is the motivation to comply and identification with the referent. The aim of this study was first to describe parents’ normative beliefs and second, to explore how these beliefs were associated with parents’ intentions of letting their child walk or cycle to school.

In this cross-sectional study, 333 parents of children in academic school years four to six participated by responding to a survey.

Beliefs related to social approval, that is, the descriptive and injunctive norm, were reported as moderate to high among parents. In contrast, beliefs related to social pressure, motivation to comply and identification with the referent, were low, as were the composite measures of approval and pressure. In the final multivariable model, one form of social approval, the descriptive norm, was significantly associated with intention.

In efforts to increase levels of AST, health promotive initiatives should emphasize social approval by making others’ behaviors visible, rather than focusing on parents conforming to social pressure.