ArticleBMC public health2012
Understanding the drive to escort: a cross-sectional analysis examining parental attitudes towards children's school travel and independent mobility.
Article in BMC public health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Associations between parental perceptions of neighbourhood environment and physical activity in children and adolescents: a systematic review including 149 studies.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Social-Ecological Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Social and physical environmental correlates of independent mobility in children: a systematic review taking sex/gender differences into account.International journal of health geographics · 2018Pooled it
- The Effect of a School-Based Intervention on Children's Cycling Knowledge, Mode of Commuting and Perceived Barriers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Modifying urban planning to promote child health: A scoping review of reviews.Health promotion perspectives · 2024Review
- Perceived Safety Influencing Active Travel to School-A Built Environment Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Relationship between Children's Independent Activities and the Built Environment of Outdoor Activity Space in Residential Neighborhoods: A Case Study of Nanjing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Measuring public opinion and acceptability of prevention policies: an integrative review and narrative synthesis of methods.Health research policy and systems · 2022Review
- Development and Initial Validation of the PILCAST Questionnaire: Understanding Parents' Intentions to Let Their Child Cycle or Walk to School.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Parents' Willingness and Perception of Children's Autonomy as Predictors of Greater Independent Mobility to School.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Promoting active student travel: A longitudinal study.Journal of transport geography · 2018Article
- Active living in Saskatchewan: A review of official community plans.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2018Review
- Article
- What Drives Them to Drive?-Parents' Reasons for Choosing the Car to Take Their Children to School.Frontiers in psychology · 2017Article
- Do school crossing guards make crossing roads safer? A quasi-experimental study of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Toronto, Canada.BMC public health · 2015Article
- Socio-demographic factors and neighbourhood social cohesion influence adults' willingness to grant children greater independent mobility: A cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2015Article
- Influence of area deprivation and perceived neighbourhood safety on active transport to school among urban Quebec preadolescents.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2014Article
- Examining the impact of the walking school bus with an agent-based model.American journal of public health · 2014Article
- Are we driving our kids to unhealthy habits? Results of the active healthy kids Canada 2013 report card on physical activity for children and youth.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe declining prevalence of Active School Transportation (AST) has been accompanied by a decrease in independent mobility internationally. The objective of this study was to compare family demographics and AST related perceptions of parents who let their children walk unescorted to/from school to those parents who escort (walk and drive) their children to/from school. By comparing these groups, insight was gained into how we may encourage greater AST and independent mobility in youth living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada.
methodsThis study involved a cross-sectional design, using data from a self-reported questionnaire (n =1,016) that examined parental perceptions and attitudes regarding AST. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to explore the differences between households where children travelled independently to school or were escorted.
resultsFindings revealed that unescorted children were: significantly older, the families spoke predominantly English at home, more likely to live within one kilometer from school, and their parents agreed to a greater extent that they chose to reside in the current neighborhood in order for their child to walk to/from school. The parents of the escorted children worried significantly more about strangers and bullies approaching their child as well as the traffic volume around school.
conclusionsFrom both a policy and research perspective, this study highlights the value of distinguishing between mode (i.e., walking or driving) and travel independence. For policy, our findings highlight the need for planning decisions about the siting of elementary schools to include considerations of the impact of catchment size on how children get to/from school. Given the importance of age, distance, and safety issues as significant correlates of independent mobility, research and practice should focus on the development and sustainability of non-infrastructure programs that alleviate parental safety concerns.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.