Parent Motivational Climate, Sport Enrollment Motives, and Young Athlete Commitment and Enjoyment in Year-Round Swimming

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(5): 358-372, 2022. Parents are known to influence the athlete sport experience through motivational climates. Athletes’ perception of motivational climates and their own motives for sport participation influence enjoyment and long-term sport commitment. It is unknown, however, the extent parent motives for initially enrolling their child in a year-round sports program associate with children’s sport participation enjoyment and commitment. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine parent motives for enrolling their child (5-8 years) in year-round swimming and (b) explore the relationships of parent motives and motivational climates with child enjoyment and commitment. Parents (n = 40) completed questionnaires on enrollment motives and motivational climate, while children (n = 40) answered questions on enjoyment and commitment. Of the seven motives measured, parents enrolled children in swimming primarily for fitness benefits (M = 4.5, SD = .45) followed by skill mastery (M = 4.31, SD = .48) and fun (M = 4.10, SD = .51) reasons. Findings revealed the fitness motive was moderately, negatively correlated with the success-without-effort facet of a performance climate (r = -.50, p \u3c .01). The fun motive was moderately, positively associated with commitment (r = .43, p \u3c .01). Parent motives for enrolling their child in sport may impact the young child sport experience and long-term sport continuation via motivational climates, enjoyment, and commitment

“We’re just stuck in a daily routine”:Implications of the temporal dimensions, demands and dispositions of mothering for leisure time physical activity

The reduced physical activity of women when they become mothers is a public health priority. Existing studies show that mothers have little time for leisure, or time that is fragmented and requiring negotiation with others. However, the temporal features of mothering are undertheorised and qualitative studies tend to focus on how mothers can skilfully construct physically active identities and balance societal expectations about being a "good mother". In line with other research that focuses on the configuration of everyday practices that condition the "possibilities" for health-related practices like physical activity, we shift our focus away from the resisting capacities of mothers to the temporal features of mothering practices. We interrogate the lived experiences of 15 mothers of preschool children in deprived urban areas and illuminate the inherent temporal dimensions, demands and dispositions of mothering practices that condition the possibility of leisure time physical activity being undertaken. Together, these temporal features mean mothering practices can readily work against leisure time physical activity. The focus on the mothering practices rather than mothers brings a novel perspective for developing public health policy designed to support mothers into regular leisure time physical activity

Feasibility of the Mothers and Daughters Moving Together Physical Activity Intervention

Purpose: Preschool-aged children, especially girls, have low levels of physical activity that may be influenced through parent role modeling. Evidence for mother–daughter interventions that include preschool-aged children is sparse. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of recruitment procedures, protocol compliance, and participant retention for the Mothers and Daughters Moving Together intervention. The secondary aim was to provide initial estimates of the intervention effect on mother–daughter and family physical activity co-participation, moderate to vigorous physical activity, and maternal physical activity enjoyment and support. Method: This nonrandomized feasibility study included mother–daughter (2–5 y) dyads who self-selected into the intervention (n = 21 dyads) or comparison (n = 10 dyads) group. Results: The recruitment rate was 41.9% (31 enrolled/74 interested). Intervention group mother–daughter dyads attended 57% of intervention sessions. Among the whole sample, 70% to 80% of participants (mothers and daughters) had at least 4 valid days of accelerometer data at preintervention and postintervention. The retention rate was 90% (28/31 dyads completed the study). Initial estimates of intervention effect indicated small, positive changes for mother–daughter physical activity co-participation, and maternal physical activity support and enjoyment. Conclusions: This study provides valuable information that should be confirmed using an adequately powered and randomized study design.</jats:p

Accuracy of StepWatch™ and ActiGraph accelerometers for measuring steps taken among persons with multiple sclerosis

Introduction There has been increased interest in the objective monitoring of free-living walking behavior using accelerometers in clinical research involving persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The current investigation examined and compared the accuracy of the StepWatch activity monitor and ActiGraph model GT3X+ accelerometer for capturing steps taken during various speeds of prolonged, over-ground ambulation in persons with MS who had mild, moderate, and severe disability. Methods Sixty-three persons with MS underwent a neurological examination for generation of an EDSS score and undertook two trials of walking on the GAITRite electronic walkway. Participants were fitted with accelerometers, and undertook three modified six-minute walk (6MW) tests that were interspersed with 10–15 minutes of rest. The first 6MW was undertaken at a comfortable walking speed (CWS), and the two remaining 6MW tests were undertaken above (faster walking speed; FWS) or below (slower walking speed; SWS) the participant's CWS. The actual number of steps taken was counted through direct observation using hand-tally counters. Results The StepWatch activity monitor (99.8%–99.9%) and ActiGraph model GT3X+ accelerometer (95.6%–97.4%) both demonstrated highly accurate measurement of steps taken under CWS and FWS conditions. The StepWatch had better accuracy (99.0%) than the ActiGraph (95.5%) in the overall sample under the SWS condition, and this was particularly apparent in those with severe disability (StepWatch: 95.7%; ActiGraph: 87.3%). The inaccuracy in measurement for the ActiGraph was associated with alterations of gait (e.g., slower gait velocity, shorter step length, wider base of support). Conclusions This research will help inform the choice of accelerometer to be adopted in clinical trials of MS wherein the monitoring of free-living walking behavior is of particular value

PARENTAL CORRELATES OF SELF-REPORTED PHYSICAL LITERACY AMONG GIRLS

Jamie Henning1, Johanna Hoch1, Rachel Kleis2, Molly Taylor1, Deirdre Dlugonski1. 1University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. 2University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI. Overweight and obese youth are at an increased risk of developing chronic health diseases. Physical literacy, a holistic construct, includes one\u27s knowledge, motivation, confidence, and competence to be physically active. It has been associated with positive health behaviors among children. Understanding the relationship between parent beliefs and child physical literacy may lead to more effective interventions that combat childhood obesity. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among family obesogenic environments, parent perception of their child’s physical literacy, and child’s self-reported physical literacy. Parents (N=52) from one Kentucky elementary school completed surveys through REDCap regarding demographics, health behaviors, parent perception of child physical literacy (PLAYparent), and parent evaluation of obesogenic environments (Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Screening Tool). Children completed a physical literacy survey (PLAYself) during school hours with aid from the research team. Parent-child dyads with completed data (N=34) were included. Relationships among PLAYparent, PLAYself, and family obesogenic environments were examined using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. Parent participants were aged 36.9±5.5 years, while children were aged 6.4±1.0 years. Parents were primarily mothers (91.2%), married (73%), college-educated (85%), Caucasian (67%), employed (79%), with an annual household income of $75,000 or more (56%). There was a statistically significant relationship between family obesogenic environment and parent-perceived child physical literacy (r=0.35, p=0.049). There was no significant relationship between family obesogenic environments and child-perceived physical literacy (r=0.04, p=0.84) or between child- and parent-perceived physical literacy (r =-0.21, p=0.23). Findings suggest that parents\u27 perception of their child\u27s physical literacy is related to their understanding of the family\u27s overall obesogenic environment. However, the child’s self-reported physical literacy was not associated with parental perceptions of the family\u27s obesogenic environment or parent perceptions of the child’s ability, confidence, and motivation to be physically active. Children may not have an accurate impression of their own physical literacy, while parents may not understand their child’s literacy. Future research should utilize objective measures of physical literacy

Validity of minimal clinically important difference values for the Multiple Sclerosis walking Scale-12?

Background and Objective: Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) values of 4 and 6 points have been proposed for interpreting meaningful change in Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale-12 (MSWS-12) scores. This study examined the validity of those MCID values based on capturing corresponding changes in other walking outcomes in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: On 2 occasions separated by 6 months, 82 persons with MS completed the MSWS-12, timed 25-ft walk (T25FW), 6-min walk (6MW), and gait analysis, and then wore an accelerometer over a 7-day period. We generated change scores for the MSWS-12 and formed groups of stable, worsened, and improved perceived walking based on both 4- and 6-point changes. The groups were compared for corresponding changes in other walking measures over time using mixed-model ANOVAs. Results: The mixed-model ANOVAs did not identify statistically significant group-by-time interactions on the T25FW (p = 0.98 and p = 0.67), the 6MW (p = 0.89 and p = 0.72), gait (p = 0.54 and p = 0.21), or accelerometry (p = 0.40 and p = 0.68) for MCID values of 4- or 6-point changes in MSWS-12 scores. Conclusions: We did not confirm that MCID values of 4 and 6 points for the MSWS-12 correspond with changes in performance, gait, and free-living assessments of walking in MS