Associations between parents' and 12-year-old children's sport and vigorous activity: the role of self-esteem and athletic competence.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
The aims of this study were to investigate parent-child physical activity (PA) associations and whether children's self-esteem or athletic competence mediates such associations.

METHODS:
The study population comprised 1124 12-year-old children and their parents. Parents' PA was assessed using the Baecke questionnaire and a question about sport participation. Children's PA was assessed by questions about participation in sport and vigorous activities. The children's self-esteem and athletic competence were assessed by Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents.

RESULTS:
Parents' PA was strongly associated with their children's PA. With 2 active parents, the odds ratio for their children to participate in sport was 3.9 (95% CI = 2.2-6.9, girls) and 8.8 (95% CI = 4.3-18.0, boys) compared with having inactive parents. Athletic competence partly mediated these associations.

CONCLUSIONS:
The family is an important target for interventions to increase PA among children, and it might be important to consider ways to reinforce children's athletic competence.

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Author information

Author/s: Eriksson, Marit (M); Nordqvist, Tobias (T); Rasmussen, Finn (F);

Affiliation: Child and Adolescent Public Health Epidemiology Group, Dept of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of physical activity & health (J Phys Act Health), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 5 (issue 3) : pp 359-73

Dates: Created 2008/06/26; Completed 2008/08/15;

PMID: 18579915, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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