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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342547
Title: Conceptualizing physical activity parenting practices using expert informed concept mapping analysis

Author
item MASSE, LOUISE - University Of British Columbia
item O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item TU, ANDREW - University Of British Columbia
item HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item BEAUCHAMP, MARK - University Of British Columbia
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: BioMed Central(BMC) Public Health
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2017
Publication Date: 6/14/2017
Citation: Masse, L.C., O'Connor, T.M., Tu, A.W., Hughes, S.O., Beauchamp, M.R., Baranowski, T. 2017. Conceptualizing physical activity parenting practices using expert informed concept mapping analysis. BioMed Central(BMC) Public Health. 17:574.

Interpretive Summary: Parents are considered an important influence on their children's physical activity behaviors. While many studies have investigated parents as an influence, there is little agreement as to how parenting in regards to physical activity should be conceptualized or measured. This makes it difficult to compare results across studies and ultimately to get a fuller understanding of how parents influence their children's physical activity. This study therefore engaged 24 experts from across the world (Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, and the United States) to help develop a conceptual framework for 5-12 year old children's physical activity, based on our group's previous systematic identification of existing physical activity parenting practices surveys and items. Experts were asked to sort physical activity parent practices into categories to inform the development of a framework. Multidimensional scaling analysis integrated all the expert's sorting patterns and a cluster analysis identified how the practices fit together into clusters. A subjective review with expert input of these categories resulted in a physical activity parenting practice framework with 12 categories: permissive, pressuring, encouragement, guided choices, involvement, praise/rewards, co-participation, expectations, facilitation, modelling, monitoring, and restriction for safety/academics. In the future, this framework will be tested by collecting data from parents whose child is 5-12 years old to assess how important each type of parenting practice is in influencing a child's physical activity, and if this varies by child characteristics, such as sex or athletic ability.

Technical Abstract: Parents are widely recognized as playing a central role in the development of child behaviors such as physical activity. As there is little agreement as to the dimensions of physical activity-related parenting practices that should be measured or how they should be operationalized, this study engaged experts to develop an integrated conceptual framework for assessing parenting practices that influence multiple aspects of 5 to 12 year old children's participation in physical activity. The ultimate goal of this study is to inform the development of an item bank (repository of calibrated items) aimed at measuring physical activity parenting practices. Twenty four experts from 6 countries (Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, & United States (US)) sorted 77 physical activity parenting practice concepts identified from our previously published synthesis of the literature (74 measures) and survey of Canadian and US parents. Concept Mapping software was used to conduct the multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis and a cluster analysis of the MDS solution of the Expert's sorting which was qualitatively reviewed and commented on by the Experts. The conceptual framework includes 12 constructs which are presented using three main domains of parenting practices (neglect/control, autonomy support, and structure). The neglect/control domain includes two constructs: permissive and pressuring parenting practices. The autonomy supportive domain includes four constructs: encouragement, guided choice, involvement in child physical activities, and praises/rewards for their child's physical activity. Finally, the structure domain includes six constructs: co-participation, expectations, facilitation, modeling, monitoring, and restricting physical activity for safety or academic concerns. The concept mapping analysis provided a useful process to engage experts in re-conceptualizing physical activity parenting practices and identified key constructs to include in measures of physical activity parenting. While the constructs identified ought to be included in measures of physical activity parenting practices, it will be important to collect data among parents to further validate the content of these constructs. In conclusion, the method provided a roadmap for developing an item bank that captures key facets of physical activity parenting and ultimately serves to standardize how we operationalize measures of physical activity parenting.