EFFECT OF MEDIATING VARIABLES ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF PARENT AND CHILD

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of mediating variables on the association between physical activity of parent and child. METHODS: In September COctober 1996, computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted among 1,504 parent-child pairs residing in the U.S. Trained interviewers asked each parent and a randomly selected child from the same household a series of questions about physical activity, for the parent and the child, and five mediating variables: parental encouragement, role modeling, financial support, and attitudes toward physical activity of the parent and of the child. At least four attempts were made to reach the telephone number before it was retired from the sample. Of households contacted, fourteen percent had eligible parent-child pairs, among whom 72% completed the survey. The mean interview length for both parent and child was 34 minutes. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses that parental physical activity was: (1) directly associated with physical activity of the child, or (2) was indirectly associated via mediating psychosocial variables. RESULTS: The direct association between parental and child physical activity was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, a test of the aggregate model that included all five mediating variables revealed a significant indirect association (r = 0.20) with parental physical activity and physical activity of the child. For individual mediating variables that were significant, we declared as important those associations whose absolute value was > = 0.30. Important positive associations were observed between parental physical activity and parental mediating variables (values in parentheses): financial support (0.43), attitude (0.32), and role modeling (0.43). Parental role modeling was also associated with the child's attitude toward physical activity (0.30). CONCLUSION: These cross-sectional data reveal that parental role modeling of physical activity behaviors may positively influence children's attitudes toward physical activity and suggest an important focus for media as part of health promotion efforts.