Physical Activity Among Children with Visual Impairments, Siblings, and Parents: Exploring Familial Factors.

Abstract

Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with positive physical and psychological health outcomes, yet youth with visual impairments tend to not to engage in sufficient MVPA. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine how familial factors were associated with MVPA among youth with visual impairments, their siblings, and parents and (b) examine the daily MVPA correlation among these family members. Twenty-two familial triads, including one child with a visual impairment, participated in this study. Accelerometers were used to measure MVPA and individual and familial factors were reported via questionnaire. Of the individual and familial factors measured, only family member role significantly predicted MVPA (β = .43, p < .01), as parents accumulated significantly more activity than their children (f2 = .22). The MVPA of children with visual impairments and their siblings were positively correlated (r = .39), while small negative relationships were found between MVPA of parents and children with and without visual impairments (r = -.16; r = -.33, respectively). In contrast with earlier findings, parents in the current study were significantly more active than their children with or without visual impairments. Potential reasons for this difference included the homogeneity of the sample, including a relatively high mean income level and parent education, which may have alleviated some typically reported barriers to parental MVPA. Future inquiries in this area should examine individual- and family-level factors concurrently to better understand their impact on MVPA within the familial triad.