Original article Parents'participation in physical activity predicts maintenance of some,but not all,types of physical activity in offspring during early adolescence:A prospective longitudinal study

Jennifer Brunet *,Jeffrey Guet ,Erin K.Wing ,Mthieu Bélnger

a School of Human Kinetics,University of Ottawa,Ottawa,ON K1N 6N5,Canada

b Institut du Savoir Montfort(ISM),Hôpital Montfort,Ottawa,ON K1K 0T2,Canada

c Cancer Therapeutic Program,Ottawa Hospital Research Institute(OHRI),Ottawa,ON K1H 8L6,Canada

d Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick,Université deMoncton,Moncton,NBE1A 3E9,Canada

Abstract Purpose:We aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between parents'and youth's participation in physical activity(PA).Methods:One hundred and ninety youth completed self-administered questionnaires 3 times per year from 2011 to 2015,and their parents completed an interviewer-administered questionnaireduring atelephoneinterview oncein2011-2012.Dataon youth'sand parents'activitieswere classif ied as interdependent or coactive/independent.Results:Youth with one or both parentswho participated in interdependent activitiesweremorelikely to maintain participation in interdependent activities(hazard ratio(HR)=3.63;95%conf idenceinterval(CI)=1.30-10.17).Youth'ssustained participation in coactive/independentactivities was not associated with parents'participation in coactive/independent activities(HR=0.97;95%CI=0.46-2.06).Conclusion:Longitudinal associations between parents'and youth's participation in PA differed across type of PA.Encouraging parents'participation in interdependent activities may promote sustained participation in interdependent activities in youth.2095-2546/©2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.Thisisan open accessarticleunder the CCBY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords:Longitudinal;Maintenance;Parental behavior;Physical activity;Sports;Youth

1.Introduction

Regular participation in physical activity(PA)can help reducetherisk of several chronic diseases(e.g.,cardiovascular diseases,diabetes,certain cancers,hypertension,osteoporosis)and premature death in youth.1,2It can also promote healthy physical(e.g.,build muscle,improve f lexibility,maintain healthy weight),psychological(e.g.,reduce symptoms of stress,anxiety and depression,enhanceself-esteem),and social development(e.g.,foster supportive relationships,reinforce a sense of belonging)in youth.3,4In light of this evidence,guidelines suggesting youth engage in at least 60 min of moderateto-vigorous intensity PA per day have been issued.5However,only 9%of youth age 6-17 years are meeting these PA guidelines in Canada.6Moreover,participation in PA markedly decreasesasyouth transition from childhood to adolescence,7-9and annual decreasesaremore pronounced in youth age12-19 yearsrelative to annual decreases observed in adults.10,11These statistics are alarming because physical inactivity during youth predicts inactivity during adulthood.12Early interventions may therefore have considerable value for preventing decreases that occur from age 12 years onwards and subsequently offset the risk of physical inactivity and associated health consequences later in life.To support the development of tailored early interventions,abetter understanding of factorsthat contributeto the adoption and maintenance of PA starting at age 12 years is needed.

It is widely believed that parents can inf luence youth's participation in PA,13likely because youth live in close proximity and have daily contact with their parents.14Parents can play an important role in supporting their child's participation by providing the resources their child needs to participate in PA,participating in PA together,exposing their child to avariety of activities,developing their child's feelings of competence for PA,and transmitting positive attitudes toward PA to their child.15,16In addition,parentscan promoteyouth'sparticipation in PA by showing their child that PA isan important part of their own life.They might do so by participating in PA themselvesor by sharing their personal experiences and the benef its it has offered them(e.g.,develop competencies,gain conf idence,connect with others,build character).Accordingly,several researchers have investigated the association between parents'and youth's participation in PA.17-21Evidence supporting this association is inconsistent.There are data in support of similar PA patterns between parents and youth,18,19but other reports have not demonstrated such associations.22,23The inconsistencies observed in the literature could be related,in part,to researchers having focused on parents'and youth's participation in PA generally,by either using a single item to assess PA or by combining all f ieldsof activity into atotal measureof PA,instead of considering participation in different typesof activities separately.24,25

Thereisconsensus that PA includesmany different types of activities that may have different correlates.26-28Classifying activities based on relative amount of task interdependence required to achieve the activity's goal would allow researchers to examine the associations between parents'and youth's participation in different types of PA.According to Carron et al.,29interdependentactivitiesarethosewhereby membersof agroup are mutually dependent on one another,task interactions are inherently variable,and greater success in such tasks relies on thecoordination and cooperation within thegroup.In contrast,the success of coactive/independent activities depends solely on the actions of 1 individual or the synchronized responses of 2 individuals.29Thesocial natureof thiscategorization makesit particularly relevant for investigating associations between parents'and youth's participation in different types of PA,especially during thetransition from childhood to adolescence,which has been viewed as a period when the inf luence of parents decreases.16,30Though the timing and nature of the declinein parental inf luence remainsunclear,it is possiblethat parents inf luence youth's participation in PA differently based on the social nature of the activity.

Furthermore,although several researchers have investigated the association between parents'and youth's participation in PA,most have used cross-sectional study designs.18,20,21Such designs do not allow for the examination of whether parents'participation in PA isassociated with youth'ssustained participation over time.With PA initiation and maintenance having different determinants,7,31a longitudinal study is necessary to determine whether parents'participation in interdependent activitiesand coactive/independent activitiesis associated with youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities,respectively.This type of study would provideevidencefor theimportanceof involving parents when implementing interventions to maintain participation in different typesof PA among youth.Therefore,weexamined the associations between parents'participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities with youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities in this longitudinal study.Whereas f indingsregarding theassociation between parents'and youth's participation in PA have been conf licting,18,19,22,23theoretical perspectives demonstrate the importance of parents'inf luence on youth's health behaviors.16Thus,we hypothesized that parents'participation in interdependent activities would be associated with youth'scontinued participation in theserespective activities,and that parents'participation in coactive/independent activities would be associated with youth's continued participation in these respective activities.

2.Methods

2.1.Participants and procedures

We analyzed data from the Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits(MATCH)study,32an ongoing prospective longitudinal study designed to investigate patterns of participationin PA inasampleof youthrecruited from Grade 5 and Grade6 classesin 17 schoolsacrosstheprovinceof New Brunswick,Canada.The MATCH study was approved by the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universitéde Sherbrooke Ethics Committee.Complete study description and protocol are published elsewhere.32In brief,802 youth(51%of those eligible)provided written informed parent or legal guardian consent and assented to participate in the MATCH study in the fall of 2011.We collected data from youth through self-report questionnaires administered 3 timesduring the school year.At thetime of analysis,data were available for 12 time points spanning a 4-year period.

In addition,we collected data from parents during a telephone interview once in 2011-2012,corresponding to the f irst year of the MATCH study,using a standardized questionnaire.Contact information was available for 490 parents whom we attempted to contact on at least 3 occasions at various times throughout the day.We were able to reach,obtain informed consent,and collect data from 190 of these parents.In each household,we interviewed one parent(mother 72.9%of the time),and obtained data on the other parent's participation in PA viatheinterviewed parent.Theresultswereport arelimited to the190 families(i.e.,mother or father and 1 offspring(49%girls;10.50±0.68 yearsat thestartof thestudy))who provided complete data.

2.2.Measures

2.2.1.Youth's participation in PA

Every 4 monthsduring theschool year,wecollected dataon youth's participation in PA using a self-administered questionnairein which weasked youth how often they participated in 36 common activitiesin thepast 4 monthsoutsideof their physical education class.The list of activities included all activities represented in the Kowalskietal.33PA checklistfor adolescents,and an additional 14 activities to ref lect other commonly practiced activitiesby youth in Atlantic Canada.34Pilottestingof the questionnaire with Grade 5 and Grade 6 students(n=12)showed it had acceptable readability and good comprehension.For each activity,we asked youth to indicate whether they engaged in it never,once per month or less,2-3 times per month,onceper week,2-3timesper week,4-5timesper week,or almost every day.

We classif ied activities into 1 of 2 categories,interdependent or coactive/independent,on the basis of the relative amount of task interdependencerequired to achievetheactivity'sgoal.Following the classif ication of activities put forth by Carron et al.,2910 activities were classif ied as interdependent:street or f loor hockey;ice hockey;ringette;baseball or softball;basketball;football;volleyball;soccer;handball or mini handball;and ball playing.The remaining activities were classif ied as coactive/independent:ice skating;in-line skating;skateboarding;bicycling;walking for exercise;track and f ield;jogging or running;golf ing;swimming;gymnastics;aerobics,yoga,or exerciseclass;homeexercises;weight training;tennis;badminton;dance;skipping rope;downhill skiing or snowboarding;cross-country skiing;karate,Judo,Tai Chi,Taekwondo;trampoline;boxing and wrestling;and kayaking and canoeing.Activities specif ied as“other”weredetermined onacase-by-casebasis.Threeactivities listed in the questionnaire(i.e.,indoor chores;outdoor chores;and games,tag,or hide-and-seek)were excluded because we were unable to determine degree task interdependence.Initial participation in each category was def ined as“yes”if youth reported taking part in 1 activity or more within the respective category atleast onceper week at each timepointduring thef irst year of this study.Sustained participation in each category was assessed by verifyingthat youth reported taking partin 1 activity or morewithin the respectivecategory at least once per week at each time point during the second,third,and fourth year of the MATCH study.

2.2.2.Parents'participation in PA

During the f irst year of the MATCH study,we collected data on parents'participation in PA by asking responding parents if they participated in 21 activities in the past 12 months.The list of activities was drawn from the Minnesota Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire,a widely used and validated interviewer-administered questionnaire.35-37For each activity they said they participated in,they were asked to report the months in which they did the activity(response options:January,February,March,April,May,June,July,August,September,October,November,and December),the average number of times per month they performed the activity(response options:never,once per month or less,2-3 times per month,onceper week,2-3timesper week,4-5timesper week,and almost every day),and how much time they spent on each occasion(response options:1-15 min,16-30 min,31-60 min,and morethan 1 h).Aswith thedatafrom youth,thefrequency to which parents participated in interdependent activities(i.e.,ice hockey;baseball or softball;basketball;volleyball;and soccer)and coactive/independent activities(i.e.,walking for exercise;swimming;tennis;bicycling;popular or social dance;home exercises;ice skating;in-line staking or roller blading;jogging and running;golf ing;exercise classes and aerobics;downhill skiing or snowboarding;weight training;f ishing;and bowling)was tabulated.Additionally,as was the case for youth'sparticipation in PA,activitieslisted in acategory specif ied as“other”were determined on a case-by-case basis.Participation in interdependent activities was def ined as“yes”if parents reported taking part in 1 or more of these activities at least onceper week for 4monthsin thepastyear.A threshold of 4 months was set for interdependent activities to capture seasonal participation,as the opportunity to participate in many of the activities may depend on the seasonal availability of recreational teams and leagues(e.g.,ice hockey;baseball;softball;basketball;and soccer).35No such limit wasset on thecoactive/independent category as many of the activities do not rely on seasonal availability,and furthermore,walking which was the most commonly reported activity in our sample,has been shown to remain consistent from season to season.38Thus,participation in coactive/independent activities was def ined“yes”if parents reported taking part in 1 or more of these activities at least once per week for the past 12 months.If applicable,the responding parent also reported on theactivities participated in by the other parent living in the household.

2.2.3.Potential covariates

We collected sociodemographic data pertaining to youth's age,sex,postal code,and proximity to PA infrastructuresfrom youth in the questionnaire administered at the f irst time point.We determined neighborhood status by entering youth's selfreported postal code into the“address f inder”function on the Post Canada website.We considered municipality of residence as“rural”if it waspopulated with lessthan 10,000 residentsor“suburban or urban”if it included 10,000 residents or more according to Statistics Canada's classif ication system.We collected information on proximity to PA infrastructuresusing the Proximity to Recreation Facilities subscale of the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale for Youth.39Proximity scores ranged from 14 to 70 and were divided into tertiles.We considered participants with scores of 14-28 to be living nearest to PA infrastructures,those with score of 29-40 to be living in mid-range distance to PA infrastructures,and those reporting scores higher than 40 as living farthest from PA infrastructures.Aside from data on potential covariates collected from youth,we collected data pertaining to household income(i.e.,＜CAD30,000;CAD30,000-80,000;or＞CAD80,000)and parents'educational status(i.e.,“neither parent completed a university degree”or“at least one parent completed auniversity degree”)during the telephoneinterview with the responding parent.Given evidence of collinearity between household incomeand parents'educational status,and similarity in resultswith either variable,weonly present results including parents'educational status as a covariate.

2.3.Data analysis

Cox proportional hazard modelswereused for both univariate and multivariate analyses.Univariate analyses were performed to assess bivariate associations between youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities(separately)and the following variables:parents'participation in interdependent activities,parents' participation in coactive/independent activities,youth's sex,neighborhood status,parents'educational status,and proximity to PA infrastructures.Multivariate models were then used to assess the associations between youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities(separately)and parents'participation in these respective activities while accounting for potential covariates(i.e.,youth's sex,neighborhood status,parents'educational status,proximity to PA infrastructures).Such models provide hazard ratios(HR)with 95%conf idence intervals(CI)for the main effect of parents'participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities.HR greater than 1.0 for the main effect indicates that youth with one or both parents who participated in a particular type of PA were more likely to sustain participation in the given type of activity than youth whose parents did not participate in that type of PA.Because boys'and girls'participation in PA may be inf luenced differently by parents,13we conducted additional analyses to investigate the associations for boys and girls separately.However,we could not test for sex interactions formally because of thesmall samplesin some strata.Results yielding a p value＜0.05 were considered statistically signif icant.All analyses were computed using SASVersion 9.4(SASInstitute Inc.,Cary,NC,USA).

3.Results

Of the 190 youth retained for analysis,110(58%)reported participating in interdependent activities and 175(92%)in coactive/independent activities at each time point during the f irst year of the MATCH study(Table 1),with 52%(n=99)participating in both types.Parents also reported greater participation in coactive/independent activities(n=160,84%)than in interdependent activities(n=39,21%)when interviewed during the f irst year of the MATCH study,with 12%(n=23)participating in both types.Of these families,33%of fathers and 42%of mothers attended university,and just over half(51%)had annual incomes greater than CAD80,000.Of note,youth included in the analyses reported similar average weekly participation in PA asthosenot included in theanalyses(t test p＞0.05 for Years 1,2,3,and 4,respectively).

Table1Description of participants from the Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits(MATCH)study retained for analysis(n=190).

Compared with youth whose parents did not participate in interdependent activities,those with at least one parent who participated in thistypeof PA in thef irst year of thisstudy were over 3 times more likely to sustain participation in interdependent activities over the next 3 years.Conversely,the likelihood of youthsustainingparticipationincoactive/independentactivitieswasnotassociated withparents'participationinthistypeof PA(Table 2).Similar results were observed in fully adjusted models(Table2),such that parents'participation in interdependent activities remained statistically signif icantly associated with youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities.In regardsto the covariates,youth with at least one parent who had completed a university degree were more likely to sustain participation in interdependent activities,and girlswere more likely to sustain participation in coactive/independentactivities than boys(Table 2).In an analysis not presented herein,when a combined score ref lecting parents and youth's overall participation in PA(i.e.,when participation in interdependent activitiesand coactive/independent activitieswascombined),parents'participation in PA was not statistically signif icantly associated with youth's sustained participation in PA.

Table2Univariate and multivariate associations between study variables and likelihood of youth having sustained participation in interdependent(n=110)and coactive/independent activities(n=175).

Although some strata were too small to test interactions by youth's sex,sex-specif ic analyses showed that the association between girls'and boys'sustained participation in interdependent activities was statistically signif icantly associated with parents'participation in thistypeof PA,but that theassociation was greater in girls.Specif ically,girls with at least one parent who participated in interdependent activities sustained participation for longer(i.e.,42.67±12.17 months)than boys(i.e.,31.76±15.13 months);however,there was no apparent differencebetween boysand girlswhoseparentsdid notparticipatein this type of PA (i.e.,29.67±13.57 months for boys;28.00±13.94monthsfor girls).Also,therewasnoapparentsex differencein the association between youth'ssustained participation in coactive/independent activitiesand parents'participation in this type of PA.Boys and girls with at least one parent who participated in coactive/independent activities sustained participation for 31.57±12.74 months and 35.95±12.79 months,respectively,and those whose parents did not participatein thistypeof PA sustained participation for 34.00±15.11 months(boys)and 35.73±10.63 months(girls),respectively.

4.Discussion

In this study,we aimed to extend past research by distinguishing between types of PA and examining the degree to which youth's sustained participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities over a 4-year period is associated with their parents'participation in these respective activities in the f irst year.Weobserved a signif icant association for interdependent activities.Conversely,parents'participation in coactive/independent activities was not signif icantly associated youth's sustained participation in this type of PA,which suggests parents'inf luence on youth's participation in PA may be limited to certain types of activities.This observation may help to explain the inconsistent f indings previously reported by researchers examining the association between parents'and youth's participation in PA.18,19,22,23By suggesting that participation in someactivities,butnotall,arepassed on to youth,this study underscores the importance of distinguishing between interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities to gain insight into thelongitudinal associationsbetween parents'and youth's participation in PA.

Althoughpreviousresearch hasshown that differenttypesof PA may have different correlates,26-28our study is the f irst to investigate how parents'participation in interdependent activities and coactive/independent activities is associated with youth's continued participation in these types of PA.Notably,we found that youth with one or both parents who reported participating in interdependent activities at the start of the MATCH study were more than 3 times more likely to sustain their participation in interdependent activities over the next 3 years.Although not directly assessed herein,it is possible that youth engaged in interdependent activities because they were exposed to those types of activities via their parents through role modeling,observational learning,and parental transmission of attitudes and values.14,16,26This would support Bandura's40contention that youth learn behaviors by observing and imitating their parents'behavior.Interdependent activities also often requireagreater commitmenton partof theparents,41including transportation,purchasing equipment,paying registration costs,and time spent during games and practices,compared to more independent activities such as walking or jogging.Accordingly,the inf luence from parents may be complex:youth'sparticipation ininterdependent PA may bethe effect of having oneor both parentsparticipating in interdependent activities,but may also depend on the type of support youth receive from their parents and the attitudes and values espoused by their parents.Therefore,the moderating effects of rolemodeling,observational learning,and transmission of attitudes and values should be investigated when examining the association between parents'and youth'sparticipation in interdependent activities.

We found that youth's sustained participation in coactive/independent activities was not signif icantly associated with parents'participation in thistypeof PA.Considering that youth participated more in coactive/independent activities than interdependent activities,this may point toward the inf luence of sources other than parents that are important in determining youth's participation in different types of PA as youth transitioned from childhood to adolescence—a critical period inwhichtheinf luenceof parentshasbeenfound to decrease.16,30Thesesourcesmay includepeers42,43or siblings.44It may bethat peers or siblings could have been responsible for prompting youth to participate in coactive/independent activities.From thisstandpoint,youth who saw their siblingsor peersengage in coactive/independent activities may have been more likely participate in these activities,regardless of their parents'participation.Thus,future studies should examine the relative inf luenceof parents,peers,and siblingsonyouth'sparticipation in PA.Additionally,it may bethat parentsand youth differed in their interestsand motivation for different typesof PA,45which could have led them to select different activities.Parents may also have put a strong emphasis on the importance of coactive/independent activities based on the notion that these activities foster autonomy and self-development23,46and thus provided support to youth that nurtured participation in these activities regardless of their own participation.Lastly,it may be that participation in coactive/independent activities are more selfselected by youth rather than inf luenced by parents'participation becauseactivitiessuch aswalking,jogging,skateboarding,and bicycling typically require less organization by adults.

A f inal noteworthy f inding is that parents'participation in coactive/independent activities seemed to affect boys'and girls'participation in this type of PA similarly.Although these sex-specif ic associationsneed to betested inlarger samples,our results generally suggest there are no sex-specif ic associations and are in line with results reported by others.16,21,47That said,we found sex differences in participation in interdependent activities,whereby girlssustained their participationinthistype of PA for longer than boysif oneor both parentsparticipated in interdependent activities.This is a noteworthy f inding because participation in PA decreasesmoredrastically for girlsthan for boys throughout adolescence,6which emphasizes the need to createopportunitiesfor parentsand girlsto continueparticipating in interdependent activities.

Whereas our f indings help in the understanding of the longitudinal associations between parents'and youth's participation in specif ic types of PA,our study has limitations that should beconsidered when interpreting thesef indings.First,we assessed PA using self-report measures.Although needed to collect information on thespecif ic typesof PA,they aresubject to reporting biases.Second,both parents'participation in PA in the past year was reported by one parent during a telephone interview conducted during the f irst year of the MATCH study,preventing the analysis of parents'sustained participation in PA.Third,though parents'and youth'sparticipation in PA may differ based on their unique characteristics and contexts(e.g.,family structure,resource constraints,life events,parents'age,attitudes,values toward PA),it was not possible to consider these variables in our analyses(as these data were not collected).Fourth,there may be stronger associations between parents'and youth's participation in certain activities(rather than broad categories);however,it was not possible to investigate these associations due to parents'or youth's low involvement in certain activities.Lastly,our sample consisted of a conveniencesamplewhich may limit thegeneralizability of our results.

5.Conclusion

In thepresent study,weshowed that parents'participation in interdependent activitieswasassociated with youth'sparticipation in this type of PA over a 4-year period.Determining that parents can inf luence youth's participation in interdependent activities may help parents realize that their behavior can impact their child now and in the future.Having this information may encourage parents to participate in interdependent activities themselves.Assuch,it is important to ensureparents have opportunities to do so.In addition,it suggests that more research is needed to understand how being involved in interdependent activities allows parents to inf luence youth.Thus,investigating potential mechanisms(e.g.,role modeling,involvement,transmission of attitudes and values)that could possibly be driving the association between parents'and youth's participation in interdependent activities would be informative.Furthermore,although we did not f ind that parents'participation in coactive/independent activities was associated with youth's participation in this type of PA,it is possible that parents can still be supportive of their child's PA endeavors.Indeed,regardless of parents'participation in coactive/independent activities,those who have positive attitudes toward coactive/independent activities,believe in their child'scompetenceto undertakethem,encouragetheir child to f ind interest in or see value in coactive/independent activities,and encourage persistence can help their child develop an intrinsic motivation to participate in PA.This possibility calls for amorecomprehensiveexamination of thewaysparentscan support or thwart youth's participation in PA in future studies.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the school administrators and teachers,as well as parents and youth who participated in the MATCH study.The MATCH study is supported by the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation and by a joint Sport Participation Research Initiative grant obtain from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(SSHRC)and Sports Canada.This manuscript was prepared while the f irst author was supported by a Canadian Cancer Society Career Development Award in Prevention.

Authors'contributions

JB made substantial contributions to the study conception and design,analysis and interpretation of data,and drafting of themanuscript;JGmadesubstantial contributionsto theanalysis and interpretation of data analysis and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content;EKWrevised themanuscript critically for important intellectual content;MB contributed to thestudy conception and design,acquisition and analysisof data,and revised themanuscriptcritically for important intellectual content;and MB also designed the MATCH study from which data for this study were drawn,obtained funding for the MATCH study,and supervised the MATCH research group.All authors have read and approved the f inal version of the manuscript,and agree with the order of the presentation of the authors.

Competinginterests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.