School-based Intervention to Support Active Travel

Overview

"PULSE - School-based intervention" is a feasibility study designed to support active travel among adolescents. The curricular intervention is designed to increase the students' health literacy as well as their autonomous motivation for active travel. The intervention will last for 6 weeks during fall 2023. The first session will be delivered by a science and education center, and the consecutive sessions will be delivered by teachers. PULSE sessions will contribute to the attainment of specific competence aims related to two interdisciplinary topics, "Health and life skills" and "Sustainability", as defined in PE, social science, and science. The research question is the following: Can increased attention to the barriers and benefits of active travel increase physical activity for youths?

Previous reviews and meta-analyses of school-based active travel interventions have found educational strategies to be the most effective. However, previous intervention studies are heterogeneous, and the majority demonstrate poor intervention quality and a lack of description of the interventions. The present study has developed a theory-based educational intervention designed to increase knowledge and empower behavioral change. To ensure local relevance, quality, effectiveness, and sustainability, the intervention has been developed by means of a co-creation process during five collaborative workshops. Participants were a combination of researchers, educators from the science center, representative of the municipality initiative Global Active City in addition to representatives of the teachers from the schools which are to implement the intervention. The intervention is designed to support learning, self-regulation, and autonomous motivation for sustained behavioral change. The theoretical framework is guided by the Self-determination theory developed by Deci and Ryan. The learning activities are predominantly student active and often group-based, introduced by short videos and teacher instructions. The intervention is designed to support three basic psychological needs that, according to the Self-determination theory, are pivotal for motivation and behavioral change: (1) students' need for autonomy and agency related to active travel, (2) their need for relatedness and social support in their efforts to make lifestyle changes when faced with personal, social, and structural barriers, and (3) their need for mastery and competence. The following data will be collected: * Questionnaire to students, pre and post * Document of implementation and adoption completed by teachers * Group interviews with students who participate in the intervention * Interviews with teachers who deliver the interviews