Barriers and enablers for cycling: A COM-B survey study of UK schoolchildren and their parents

Abstract

Introduction: Cycling confers many health-related benefits but is rarely used as a mode of travel in the UK. There is comparatively limited research on enablers and barriers to cycling in children and their parents, even though understanding this dyad is key for developing effective active school travel interventions. We used the COM-B (capability, opportunity, and motivation to engage in an identified behaviour) model as a framework to design and interpret data from an online survey administered to schoolchildren and their parents, regarding barriers and enablers for cycling.

Methods: Two hundred-and-forty-six UK schoolchildren aged 9–15 years (M = 12.2 yrs; SD = 1.1 yrs) and one of their parents completed an online survey in which they reported their cycling behaviour, physical and psychological capabilities regarding cycling on roads, social and physical opportunities for cycling, and their motivation to cycle on roads. A structural equation model was hypothesized and fitted to the data. Model modifications were made to improve the model fit.

Results: A structural equation model of survey data revealed that parents' cycling frequency predicted the frequency of their children's cycling. Both children's and parents' cycling frequencies were determined by their affective judgements regarding cycling – i.e., their automatic motivation to cycle – and whether they had access to a roadworthy cycle. Parents' cycling frequency was also influenced by the proportion of their close friends who cycled.

Conclusions: Interventions targeted at enhancing children's and parents' attitudes toward cycling, and increasing parents' cycling behaviour, may increase children's cycling frequency journeys such as the school commute.