Application of the COM-B model to the correlates of children’s outdoor playing and the potential role of digital interventions: a systematic literature review

Children’s reduced engagement in outdoor playing in recent years has contributed to increasing academic and practice interests in understanding this behavior, as well as investigating the effectiveness of combined social, physical and digital interventions on stimulating children’s outdoor playing. This paper provides a systematic review of recent empirical evidence on the correlates of the outdoor playing behavior of children, ages 4–12. In addition, the potential roles of digital interventions in stimulating children’s outdoor playing are explored. The COM-B behavior change model is used to establish relevant correlates and functions of digital interventions. COM-B model defines behavior as the result of an interaction between three components: capability, opportunity and motivation. This model provides a basis for designing effective behavior change interventions. This paper’s contribution is twofold: it presents the case for adding ‘digital environment’ as a new component of the COM-B model, and it further develops a conceptual framework of different functions of digital interventions aiming at stimulating children’s outdoor playing behavior. The findings contribute to the theory-based behavior change interventions stimulating children’s outdoor playing.

近年来，儿童户外活动参与度的降低促使学术界和实践领域对理解此行为产生日益增长的兴趣，并探究结合社会、身体和数字干预措施以激发儿童户外活动的有效性。本文对4至12岁儿童户外活动行为的相关实证证据进行了系统综述。此外，还探讨了数字干预措施在激发儿童户外活动方面的潜在作用。COM-B行为改变模型被用于确立数字干预的相关相关因素和功能。COM-B模型将行为定义为三个成分之间相互作用的产物：能力、机会和动机。此模型为设计有效的行为改变干预措施提供了基础。本文的贡献有两方面：一是提出将‘数字环境’作为COM-B模型的新组成部分，二是进一步发展了针对激发儿童户外活动行为的数字干预不同功能的理论框架。研究结果有助于基于理论的行为改变干预措施激发儿童的户外活动。