Parent and family context effects on physical activity among Irish children: an analysis of growing up in Ireland data

Interventions and policies focusing on family and parental influences on physical activity have had limited success, indicating the need to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that may influence effective intervention and policy design. This thesis, using Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) data, examines factors influencing 9-year-olds (Wave 1, n=4984) and 13-year-olds (Wave 2, n=3853) physical activity behaviour and presents this examination across three empirical studies.

Study one examined the enactment of physical activity parenting (PAP) through interviews recorded with 9-year-old children and their parents, aiming to understand the role of PAP within a socioecological context. Study two explored family (n=11) and parent (n=26) factors influencing 9-year-olds’ participation in ‘Physical Play, Sport, and Physical Exercise’ (PPSE), analysing both the extent of participation and its duration through logistic and linear regression. It also highlights how integrating qualitative and quantitative findings enhances our understanding of family and parental influences on children’s physical activity behaviour. Study three examined family (n=9) and parental (n=34) factors influencing 13-year-olds’ PPSE participation, focusing on extent and duration, echoing the approach and analysis of study two.

Qualitative findings indicate that parental encouragement, involvement, and facilitation enhance children’s structured physical activity participation, and co-participation benefits unstructured activity. Social class, family structure, family size, and community factors influence enactment of PAP practices. Cross-sectional findings on 9 and 13-year-olds revealed gender disparities in physical activity, with girls participating less frequently and for shorter times in PPSE than boys. Parent factors had a greater impact on PPSE behaviour compared to family factors. For 9-year-olds, boys’ PPSE participation correlates with increased closeness between mother and child, less dependent maternal relationships, mother’s perception of unfair household task equity, higher maternal education, and negative sibling rapport. Girls’ PPSE participation correlates with maternal work hours, maternal perception of daughter’s body weight, and co-activity. Duration factors differ: less maternal dependency increases 9-year-old boys’ participation, while closer mother-daughter relationships extend girls’ participation. For 13-year-olds, boys’ PPSE participation is shaped by household income, external family time, and maternal factors (monitoring, age), while girls’ participation is negatively influenced by maternal depression and number of screens in the bedroom. Factors impacting PPSE duration vary: family size reduces girls’ participation, and more males in the household reduce boys’ involvement. Boys participation duration is negatively linked to maternal discipline and conflict, whereas for girls, less maternal responsiveness, and more screens in the bedroom correlate with shorter participation duration.

In addition to the findings outlined, this thesis presents recommendations based on a rigorous examination of the most impactful significant factors. These recommendations aim to inform interventions that enhance physical activity among children and adolescents, providing guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and parents, and presenting directions for future research.