PhD-thesis
Active travel among Norwegian adolescents.
A study exploring factors of walking, cycling and motorized travel in a socio-ecological framework
Title of trial lecture (in Norwegian)
Strategier for å fremme fysisk aktivitet blant ungdom i skole og fritid med utgangspunkt i COM-B-modellen og Behaviour Change Wheel
- Trial lecture starts at 10:15
- Public defence starts at 12:30
Read the thesis in the Norwegian Research Information Repository
Disputation chair: Professor Professor Monica Klungland Torstveit, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, UiA
Assessment committee:
- First opponent: Associate professor Lars Breum Christiansen, Department of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
- second opponent: Associate professor Ingar Mehus, Department of Sosiology and Political Science, NTNU
- Chair of assessment comittee: Professor Frøydis Nordgård Vik, UiA
Supervisors in the doctoral work:
- Main supervisor: Professor Sveinung Berntsen Stølevik, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, UiA
- Co-supervisor: Professor Tommy Haugen, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, UiA
Summary of thesis
How adolescents travel to school – by walking, cycling, or motorized transport – appears to be influenced by a range of factors. In her PhD thesis, Lena Hansen Malnes, in collaboration with several other researchers and organizations, has examined factors that may affect active travel among adolescents. The PhD project is part of the larger research initiative School in Motion (ScIM), which tested a school-based intervention aimed at increasing physical activity.
The thesis consists of three sub-studies. The first assesses the validity of a widely used questionnaire for measuring adolescents’ travel habits. The results suggest that the questionnaire mostly aligns with travel diaries, though it may underestimate motorized transport. The second study analyzes the effects of the ScIM intervention and finds no increased or decreased likelihood of active travel, after the intervention period. The third study explores characteristics of participants who walk, cycle, or use motorized transport to and from school. The results suggest that factors such as gender, distance to school, season, terrain, traffic conditions, street lighting, centrality, and proximity to friends are associated with travel mode – and that these factors may interact. For example, students living close to school may be influenced by different conditions than those with a longer commute. The relevance of specific factors appears to vary by gender and season.
The findings may be relevant for those seeking to promote active and sustainable travel among youth in Norway.
About the candidate
Lena Hansen Malnes (born 1987) has been a PhD candidate at the Department of Sport Science and Physical Education at the University of Agder. Over the past year, she has also worked as a university lecturer at the Department of Health and Nursing Science.
Malnes holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Agder (2008–2011) and a master’s degree in public health science from the same university (2014–2016). During her master’s studies, she wrote her master thesis in the topic of active travel and was involved in a project testing an e-cycling intervention among adults. She has also been involved in another research project, focusing on e-cycling and intensity of physical activity among Norwegian adults.
What to do as an online audience member
The disputation is open to the public.
We ask online audience members to join no earlier than 10 minutes in advance. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time.
Opponent ex auditorio:
Deadline for the public to pose questions is during the break between the two opponents. Questions ex auditorio can be submitted to disputation chair monica.k.torstveit@uia.no, cc to PhD adm emma.e.horneman@uia.no.