The role of healthy lifestyle technologies in young adults' physical activity participation and health knowledge

Young people increasingly use digital technologies, termed 'healthy lifestyle technologies' (HLT) (e.g., social media, wearable devices, health apps) to support their healthy active lifestyles, including their physical activity (PA) participation and health learning. Healthy active lifestyles established during young adulthood, are known to influence active lifestyles throughout adulthood. However, to date, most research in this area has focused on individuals under the age of 18, leaving a gap in understanding young adults' (18-20 years) experiences of HLT, which is a time when individuals typically take greater responsibility and have more autonomy for independently managing their healthy active lifestyles. This research is concerned with young adults' HLT user experiences within and beyond the formal educational setting of schools, with a particular focus on the role of HLT in supporting their lifelong PA participation and health learning. To address the above, the research comprised three studies, each designed to address specific aims and objectives, culminating in three journal articles. Study 1 involved undertaking a systematic review of existing literature identifying gaps in our understanding, for example, relating to the long-term effects of HLT, the extent of young people's critical use of HLT, and the role of relevant adults in facilitating HLT use. Studies 2 and 3 empirically addressed these gaps, alongside exploring young adults' current HLT user experiences. The data gathering for these studies spanned two phases over 10 months. The first phase included eight focus groups with 23 young adults from four universities in central England, and the second phase comprised 11 individual interviews, most of which were conducted with the same participants from the focus groups. Data were analysed using abductive thematic analysis, guided by self-regulated learning theory in Study 2 and constructivist learning theory in Study 3. The findings from Study 2 highlighted how young adults used self-regulation strategies, such as goal setting and lifestyle planning, to self-regulate their health behaviours, and manage their PA participation and health learning via HLT. This self-regulated learning underscores the potential of HLT to foster lifelong healthy active behaviours. Furthermore, the study revealed that young adults used various digital and health strategies to overcome challenges (e.g., limited health knowledge or digital techniques) they faced when using HLT in support their healthy active lifestyles in their earlier years. Accordingly, this study provided robust and detailed information on how they critically used HLT to regulate and enhance their healthy active lifestyles. Study 3 found that, whilst only a few participants had encountered any digital PE, most of which had occurred during COVID-19, this exposure had nevertheless positively influenced their digital health literacy, enabling these individuals to critically negotiate and navigate digital environments. However, given that most participants had had limited digital PE experiences, this illustrates a persistent limitation of the subject in preparing young people to use HLT effectively beyond the school settings. This highlights the need for PE to develop young people's digital health literacy from an early age, enabling them to confidently use HLT in real-life situations while managing and mitigating the associated risks. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of ongoing teacher professional development in digital techniques to support this goal. In conclusion, this research highlights the growing importance of HLT in shaping young adults' health behaviours and their healthy active lifestyles from adolescence into early adulthood. It also highlights the need for structured support, specifically within PE, and through digital PE, to help young people to navigate the challenges of using HLT to maintain a healthy active lifestyle, rather than leaving them to manage the risks and barriers alone. Key words: young people, young adults, digital technologies, physical activity, health, healthy active lifestyles