The Construct Validity of a Questionnaire for Parental Physical Activity Orientation and Its Association with Parental Explicit Modeling in Parents of Young Children with Disabilities

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purposes of the present study were a) to evaluate the construct validity of a questionnaire measuring parental physical activity (PA) orientation, and b) to examine the association between constructs of parental PA orientation and parental explicit PA modelling in parents of young children with disabilities. One hundred and thirty-five participants completed an online questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the construct validity of a questionnaire for parental PA orientation. Exploratory factor analysis for parental PA orientation revealed a four-factor solution, accounting for 59.02% of the variance with eigenvalues of 7.14, 6.88, 4.00, and 2.35 for factor 1 (parent-perceived motor performance of their child), factor 2 (parental enjoyment of PA), factor 3 (parental importance of PA), and factor 4 (parental awareness of accessible PA program), respectively. Two hierarchical multiple regression models were developed and used to examine the association between constructs of parental PA orientation and parental explicit PA modelling. Parental enjoyment and importance of PA were significant factors predicting parental explicit PA modelling, controlling for child’s age and parent’s age. The results of the current study may be used for resources when developing an intervention for parental explicit PA modelling in parents of children with disabilities.