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Taking the bus? Barriers and facilitators for adolescent use of public buses to school.

ABSTRACT: Transport to school can contribute significantly to adolescents' physical activity but in New Zealand - as in many other countries around the world - many adolescents are driven to school. Public transport offers an opportunity to integrate incidental active transport into school commutes. In this paper, we bring together multiple sources of data into a multi-method study to elucidate the barriers to and facilitators of public transport use by adolescents for school travel in Dunedin, New Zealand, a city with low rates of public transport use. The data include a public bus survey from Otago School Students Lifestyle Survey (OSSLS, 1391 adolescents); the Built Environment Active Transport to School (BEATS) Study parental survey (350 parents), focus groups (54 adolescents, 25 parents, 12 teachers) and semi-structured interviews (12 principals); interviews with three policy-makers from local/regional/national agencies; and analysis of 10 relevant local/regional/national strategies/transport plans. The findings show how distance to school, cost, parental trip chaining, built environment features, the weather, convenience, and safety perceptions are major barriers to using public transport to school. Moreover, current transport planning documents do not favour public health. A number of recommendations that could increase public transport use are made including: raising parking prices to discourage parents driving and trip-chaining; improving bus infrastructure and services; providing subsidies; and changing perceptions of public transport use and users. These actions, however, require collaboration between government authorities across the local, regional and national scale.

SUBMITTER: Mindell JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7455151 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Taking the bus? Barriers and facilitators for adolescent use of public buses to school.

Mindell Jennifer S JS Ergler Christina C Hopkins Debbie D Mandic Sandra S

Travel behaviour & society 20200828

Transport to school can contribute significantly to adolescents' physical activity but in New Zealand - as in many other countries around the world - many adolescents are driven to school. Public transport offers an opportunity to integrate incidental active transport into school commutes. In this paper, we bring together multiple sources of data into a multi-method study to elucidate the barriers to and facilitators of public transport use by adolescents for school travel in Dunedin, New Zealan ...[more]

PMID: 32904425

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Project description:BackgroundAdolescent HIV and pregnancy rates in Southern Africa are amongst the highest in the world. Despite decades of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programming targeting adolescents, recent trends suggest there is a continued need for interventions targeting condom use for this age group.MethodsThis review synthesises evidence from qualitative studies that describe the determinants of condom use among adolescents in Southern Africa. We conducted systematic searches in four databases. Data were extracted, appraised for quality and analysed using a 'best-fit' framework synthesis approach.ResultsWe coded deductively findings from 23 original studies using an a priori framework and subsequently conducted thematic analysis. Synthesised findings produced six key themes relating to: 1) pervasive unequal gender norms and restrictive masculinities favouring male sexual decision-making and stigmatising condom use in committed relationships; 2) other social norms reflecting negative constructions of adolescent sexuality and non-traditional family planning; 3) economic and political barriers including poverty and a lack of policy support for condom use; 4) service-level barriers including a lack of youth-friendly SRH services and comprehensive sex education in schools; 5) interpersonal barriers and facilitators including unequal power dynamics in sexual partnerships, peer influences and encouraging condoning condom use, and inadequate communication about SRH from parents/caregivers; and 6) negative attitudes and beliefs about condoms and condom use among adolescents. A conceptual model was generated to describe determinants of condom use, illustrating individual-, interpersonal- and structural-level barriers and facilitating factors.ConclusionSRH programming targeting barriers and facilitators of condom use at multiple levels is recommended in Southern Africa. We present a multilevel integrated model of barriers and facilitators to guide adolescent SRH decision-making, programme planning and evaluation. Given the existence of multilevel barriers and facilitators, interventions should, likewise, take a multilevel approach that incorporates locally relevant understanding of the individual-, interpersonal- and structural-level barriers and facilitators to condom use among adolescents in the region.

Project description:Circadian rhythm disturbances have long been associated with the development of psychiatric disorders, including mood and substance use disorders. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable time for the onset of psychiatric disorders and for circadian rhythm and sleep disruptions. Preclinical studies have found that circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) impacts the brain and behavior, but this research is largely focused on adult disruptions. Here, we sought to determine the long-term behavioral and neurobiological effects of CRD during early adolescence by exposing mice to 12 h shifts in the light/dark cycle. We hypothesized that adolescent CRD would have a greater effect on psychiatric-related behaviors, relative to adult disruption. To identify possible mechanisms, we also measured gene expression in brain regions relevant to circadian rhythms, mood and reward. We found that disruption during early adolescence, but not adulthood, persistently increased exploratory drive (risk-taking behavior) and cocaine preference when tested later in life. Interestingly, we found sex differences when intravenous cocaine self-administration was tested. While female mice with a history of adolescent CRD had a greater propensity to self-administer cocaine, as well as increased motivation and cue-induced reinstatement, male adolescent CRD mice had reduced motivation and extinction responding. Overall, adolescent CRD in mice caused persistent increases in risky behavior, cocaine reward and cocaine self-administration, which suggests that CRD during adolescence may predispose individuals towards substance use disorders. Importantly, we found that many transcripts were affected by adolescent CRD and these were largely distinct across sex and brain region. Future research is required to elucidate how adolescent CRD affects behaviors relevant to mood- and substance use-related disorders across the 24-hour day, as well as to identify intervention strategies to alleviate disruption during adolescence and novel therapeutic approaches once symptoms have begun.

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Taking the bus? Barriers and facilitators for adolescent use of public buses to school.

Publications

Taking the bus? Barriers and facilitators for adolescent use of public buses to school.

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