Title Pending

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Introduction: Children’s independent mobility (IM) has significantly declined over the past century, raising concerns due to its positive associations with active transportation, physical activity, and social and cognitive development. Methods: To better understand the factors influencing IM, we conducted semi-structured interviews, supplemented by an optional photovoice component, with 18 parents of 7–12-year-olds residing in Southern Alberta. We assessed IM based on Hillman’s mobility licenses. We asked parents to discuss the factors that encourage or discourage them from granting IM to their child at multiple levels of influence of the social-ecological model. Based on social cognitive theory, we also asked parents to rate their confidence in their child’s ability to move around safely in their neighbourhood as well as the factors affecting their confidence. Results: The results unveil the intricate balance parents navigate between granting IM and ensuring child safety, often necessitating the use of various strategies. Factors associated with IM spanned all levels of the social-ecological model, including personal (e.g., children’s ability to navigate traffic), interpersonal (e.g., parental strategies to encourage or limit IM), community (e.g., perceived social norm), built environment (e.g., short distance to destinations, heavy traffic), and policy factors (e.g., development of walking and cycling infrastructure, lack of enforcement of traffic rules). Parental confidence appeared to be a key enabler of IM. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that policies and interventions should focus on increasing parental confidence and addressing the above-mentioned social-ecological barriers and facilitators to promote and support children’s IM and active transportation.