Parent-adolescent agreement in reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jason M Nagata,Erin E Dooley,Catherine A Cortez,Amy A Conroy,Kelley Pettee Gabriel,Kyle T Ganson,Puja Iyer

doi:10.1186/s12889-022-12530-4

Abstract

PurposeTo describe the agreement between parent- and adolescent- reports of adolescent moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and to determine sociodemographic factors associated with MVPA reporting differences during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe analyzed data collected in May 2020 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD, N = 4841), a U.S. prospective cohort study. We quantified past weekly adolescent MVPA levels as reported by the parent and adolescent (referent). Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used to examine the degree of agreement between parent- and adolescent- reports.ResultsWhen quantifying adolescent MVPA during the same recall period, median (p25, p75) MVPA (h∙wk.− 1) was 2.17 (0.00, 6.00) as reported by adolescents and 1.52 (0.29, 4.75) by parents with a mean difference of 4.89. Statistically significant differences in reports of MVPA were found in households with income > $75,000: on average, adolescents reported higher MVPA levels than their parents. Bland-Altman plots illustrated that, among adolescents reporting no or little MVPA, there was higher parent-adolescent agreement. However, among adolescents reporting high levels of MVPA, there was less agreement between the parent- and adolescent- reports.ConclusionsDespite more time spent together at home during the pandemic, there was generally low agreement between parent- and adolescent- reports of adolescent MVPA. Future research could examine parent-adolescent agreement of MVPA within the context of device-based measures (e.g., accelerometers), determine reasons for differences in parent-adolescent reporting of MVPA, and inform interventions for improved parental involvement and monitoring of MVPA.

Highlights

Among children and adolescents, moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA; e.g., running, swimming, or bicycling) is associated with a myriad of health benefits, including lower risk of obesity, higher bone mass, and improved cardiometabolic health [1, 2]
Adolescents reported engaging in a median of 2.17 [p25, p75 (0.00, 6.00)] hours of MVPA per week compared to 1.52 (0.29, 4.75) hours reported by their parents
Significant dyadic differences were found among each measure of MVPA, with absolute mean differences in parent- and adolescent- reports of 1.15 h·d− 1, 1.68 d·wk.− 1, and 4.89 h∙wk.− 1

Summary

Introduction

Moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA; e.g., running, swimming, or bicycling) is associated with a myriad of health benefits, including lower risk of obesity, higher bone mass, and improved cardiometabolic health [1, 2]. Use of a proxy respondent varies based on the age of the child with research suggesting that children aged 10 years and older are developmentally mature enough to provide reliable and valid estimates of MVPA [4, 8,9,10]. Prior studies have reported on the agreement and correlation between parent and child accounts of children’s physical activity levels; a majority were in children under 10 years of age [4, 8, 10,11,12]. Levels of agreement between parent- versus child- reports of physical activity may vary between different populations dependent on the child’s age group. Prior studies have suggested that using a self-report may be more reliable than parental proxy report in children over the age of 10 [27]

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