Patterns of physical activity parenting practices and their association with children's physical activity behaviors

Authors: DE-JONGH GONZÁLEZ, OLIVIA - University Of British Columbia; HUTCHISON, SARAH - University Of British Columbia; TUGAULT-LAFLEUR, CLAIRE - University Of Ottawa; O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); MÂSSE, LOUISE - University Of British Columbia

Submitted to: Childhood Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2023
Publication Date: 5/31/2023
Citation: De-Jongh Gonzalez, O., Hutchison, S.M., Tugault-Lafleur, C.N., O'Connor, T.M., Hughes, S.O., Masse, L.C. 2023. Patterns of physical activity parenting practices and their association with children's physical activity behaviors. Childhood Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2022.0226.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2022.0226

Interpretive Summary: The parenting literature has in the past reported on the association of specific parenting practices in the context of children's physical activity with children's actual physical activity behaviors. However, parents rarely use a parenting practice, such as role modeling, in isolation, but rather combine parenting practices to encourage or support their children's physical activity. This study therefore sought to identity patterns of how parents use combinations of parenting practices that provide structure, promote autonomy, or are controlling, with their child's physical activity levels and the sociodemographic characteristics of the families. A secondary analysis of data from Canadian parents of 5-12 year old children was done. Parents completed the theoretically derived 65-item Parenting Practice Item Bank, which has sound psychometric properties, in addition to their child's physical activity levels. The Parenting Practice Item Bank consists of three dimensions of parenting practices: structure (5 constructs), autonomy support (3 constructs), and Control (1 construct). Latent class analysis was used to identify distinct groups of parents based on their self-reported use of physical activity parenting practices. Four distinct patterns of using physical activity parenting practices emerged: (1) Indifferent (30%), parents who were unlikely to use any of the parenting practices examined; (2) Coercive (23%), parents using primarily controlling parenting practices; (3) Involved (19%), parents using most parenting practices examined; and (4) Supportive (28%), parents using primarily structured and autonomy promoting parenting practices. Parents with the Supportive pattern of parenting practices reported the highest level of physical activity for their child; while parents with the Coercive pattern reported the lowest level of child physical activity. These patterns of physical activity parenting practices are new and theoretically meaningful. They can be used to help inform family-based interventions to promote greater physical activity among youth.

Technical Abstract: Little is known about how parents combine multiple physical activity (PA) parenting practices (PAPP) and their relationship with their child's activity level. This study examined patterns of PAPP and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics and children's PA. Parents of 5- to 12-year-olds (n=618) completed the 65-items PAPP item-bank assessing their use of structured, autonomy promoting, and controlling PAPP, and reported their child's PA. Latent class analysis was used to uncover similar groups of parents based on their use of nine PAPP. Regression analyses evaluated associations between the latent classes, sociodemographic factors, and children's PA. Four latent classes emerged: (1) Indifferent (30%)-parents who were unlikely to use any of the PAPP examined; (2) Coercive (23%)-parents using primarily controlling PAPP; (3) Involved (19%)-parents using most PAPP examined; and (4) Supportive (28%)-parents using primarily structured and autonomy promoting PAPP. Involved parents were younger than Indifferent and Supportive parents. Supportive parents reported the highest level of children's PA compared with all other groups, whereas Coercive parents reported the lowest level of children's PA. Our findings showed that different latent classes exist among Canadian parents and that the combination of structured and autonomy promoting PAPP, when used without control, was associated with the highest PA level among children. The emergent latent classes are novel, theoretically meaningful, and key to inform family-based PA interventions.