Objectives of the Study: Physical activity (PA) parenting research has increased over the past two decades, with findings verifying the significant and positive role that parents can play in promoting and supporting youth PA (Gustafson & Rhodes, 2006). The objective of the study was to investigate patterns of PA parenting practices and child PA behaviours in a sample of families from the Growing Up in Ireland child cohort. Growing Up in Ireland is the national longitudinal study of children in Ireland.
Approaches and Methods: A qualitative sample of 117 families were included in the study. Parents and children were interviewed using a multi method participatory approach and families were stratified by socio-economic status. The data was thematically coded to specific PA parenting domains as proposed by Masse et al., (2017) which were as follows: neglect/control, autonomy support, and structure. The parent and child transcripts were analysed using the constant comparison analysis (Boeije, 2002).
Results: PA parenting practices of encouragement, involvement and facilitation were positively associated with structured sport activities. Co-participation was positively associated with children’s unstructured PA. Mothers and fathers differ in their PA roles. Fathers from higher socioeconomic groups indicate the importance of facilitating PA for boys as a preventive effect against future health risk behaviours. Parents who modelled an active lifestyle adopted PA parenting practices that promote child PA.
Conclusions: This study identifies how Irish parents engage in PA parenting practices and complements the knowledge base on how parents influence children’s PA behaviour.
This research is work in progress and contributes to a larger PhD Study. This research contributes to the Health and Wellbeing cluster theme of the PEPAYS Ireland 2018 Forum.