Parents' and children's perception of self-efficacy and parental support are related to children's physical activity: a cross-sectional study of parent-child dyads

A large amount of studies have shown that parenting behaviours play an important role for children's engagement in physical activities. However, the role of children's perception of parenting behaviours and the way parenting behaviours interact with personal factors (e.g. self-efficacy) are not well established. We examined the differences between children's and parents' perception of parental support, the relationship to children's physical activity, and the role of children's and parent's self-efficacy. Two hundred eighty-three parent-child dyads (children: 51.9% female, age:M = 10.74 years, SD = 1.34) filled out questionnaires on children's physical activity, perceptions of parental support, and self-efficacy. The agreement between child and parent reports were quantified using the intra-class correlation coefficient. Path analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to analyse the interrelations. Agreement between children's and parents' perception of parental support was poor. Path analysis revealed that only children's perception is associated with their physical activity. Parents' self-efficacy beliefs are related to children's and parents' perceptions of parental support and indirectly to children's physical activity. The results emphasize the importance of integrating both parents' and children's variables as well as parent-child variables in dyadic models to enhance the understanding of family environmental influences on children's health-related behaviours.