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Parent’s Social Support for Children’s Outdoor Physical Activity: Do Weekdays and Weekends Matter?

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Abstract

In this study we examined the relationships among parental social supportive behaviors for children’s weekday and weekend outdoor physical activity (OPA). Thirty-nine girls and 29 boys 8 to 11 years wore pedometers for 7 days. Sixty-five mothers and 50 fathers responded to a social support questionnaire about OPA that was comprised of four dimensions: encouragement, playing with, use of activity as family recreation, and watch. After controlling for age and sport participation, regression analyses indicated that mothers’ use of activity as recreation was positively associated with girls’ weekday OPA. On the weekend, fathers’ play with son was positively related to OPA. The effectiveness of family-based activity interventions depends on when parents have opportunities to be present for their child’s activity and gender differences in the support provided.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to extend our appreciation to the children and parents who made this study possible. Further, we would like to recognize the school administrators who graciously allowed us into their school. We could not have accomplished our work without all of their assistance.

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Correspondence to Michael W. Beets.

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Beets, M.W., Vogel, R., Chapman, S. et al. Parent’s Social Support for Children’s Outdoor Physical Activity: Do Weekdays and Weekends Matter?. Sex Roles 56, 125–131 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9154-4

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