EXAMINING THE ROLE OF PARENTAL BELIEFS IN CHILDREN'S MODERATE-TO-VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 805

Abstract

It has been suggested that understanding the role of the family, especially parents, in children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity participation is an important undertaking (Sallis et al., 1992). The present study adopted a social cognitive framework in which to examine the relationship between parents' beliefs and children's MVPA. Specifically, the purposes of the present study were to 1) determine if mothers and fathers have different beliefs for their daughters than they do for their sons and 2) to test whether parental beliefs are related to their children's self-reported MVPA participation. The subjects for this study included 81 children (26 girls and 55 boys) between the ages of 11 and 15 years and their parents. Parental beliefs pertaining to value of fitness for their children, perceptions of their children's fitness competence, and goal orientations (i.e., beliefs about fitness testing success) were assessed. Whenever appropriate both parents/guardians for the target child completed questionnaires. Data was collected in each family's home and a version of the Physical Activity Interview (Simons-Morton et al., 1994) was used to assess children's self-reported MVPA as well as two peer comparison measures. Multivariate analyses of variance and multivariate multiple regression analyses were used to examines the two study purposes. Results indicate that mothers' and fathers' beliefs concerning their children's participation and competencies in physical fitness contexts did not differ as a function of the child's gender. However, mothers' and fathers' beliefs were strongly related to their children's MVPA participation. In particular, parents' perceptions of their child's physical fitness competence combined with a mother's endorsement of a mastery goal orientation (focusing on personal fitness improvement) were significantly and positively predictive of children's MVPA. These findings support the notion that parental beliefs about children's physical competencies need to be taken into account to fully understand children's MVPA.