Review identifies many factors related to children’s development of pro-environmental behaviors Understanding how to best support children’s development of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) is essential to sustainability efforts. This systematic review of the literature aims to overview the existing research on children’s PEBs. The review explores three key considerations: 1) research designs employed to investigate children’s PEBs; 2) methods for measuring children’s PEBs; and 3) the factors that influence children’s engagement in PEBs. The review focuses on children in middle childhood, which may be an important developmental stage in regard to environmental awareness and pro-environmental attitudes.
A search of academic databases was conducted to identify studies that investigated children’s (age 6–12 years) development of PEBs. The search focused on peer-reviewed studies published in English between 2000 and 2023. Studies that reported quantitative data to measure children’s PEBs, as well as studies where the mean age of participants was under 12 years, were included in the search. The search yielded 73 articles that reported findings from 76 research studies. The studies were conducted in 28 countries, mostly in Europe.
The review found that observational research designs, which investigated children’s PEBs within the context of their everyday lives, were utilized by 50 studies and accounted for the far majority of the research base. Experimental or quasi-experimental research designs were employed by 26 studies which measured the impact of an intervention, such as environmental education, on children’s PEBs. The review also identified a small number of longitudinal studies, which are important in exploring PEBs over the long-term. Regarding the methods used to measure children’s PEBs, the review found that the majority of studies relied on children’s self-reports of their PEBs, often using standardized instruments. To a lesser extent studies used self-reports of children’s intention to engage in PEBs or observational measurements of actual behaviors. Longitudinal studies were more likely to report actual behaviors than other research designs. The review discusses the limitations of both self-reports and observational measurements and calls for improvements in the methods employed to assess children’s PEBs.
Analysis also identified nine key influencing factors associated with children’s PEBs. Reported internal influencing factors (i.e., personal attributes) included self-perception and identity, self-efficacy, and attitudes and values. Reported external influencing factors included children’s experience with nature, environmental education, significant others (mainly parents), social norms, demographic factors, and infrastructure (the availability of facilities needed to engage in PEBs). Attitudes and values were the most commonly investigated internal factors and significant relationships were identified with children’s PEBs. Environmental education was the most investigated external factor, with studies mainly reporting positive impacts on PEBs. However, some environmental education studies reported mixed findings, likely due to variation in emphasis of the intervention or the research design. Children’s contact with nature was also an important external influencing factor, with studies reporting that greater nature exposure was linked to increased engagement in PEBs. Additionally, the review found that studies commonly investigated multiple domains of PEBs and largely focused on energy conservation and recycling, while other domains such as biodiversity protecting actions (such as caring for plants/animals) and general concern for environmental issues were not well represented in the research.
Overall, the review offers a comprehensive overview of recent studies investigating children’s engagement in PEBs, as well as an analysis of their research designs and findings. Research gaps identified by the review, along with suggestions for methodological improvements, may be helpful in guiding future research. Future longitudinal studies that investigate “the complexity of children’s behaviors and the interactive mechanism amongst different influencing factors over time” may be especially beneficial in understanding how pro-environmental behavior might best be promoted in children.
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