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Children's perceptions of physical activity environments captured through ecological momentary assessment: a
Genevieve F Dunton1, Stephen S Intille, Jennifer Wolch
1Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033-9045, USA. dunton@usc.edu
Preventive Medicine
|June 5, 2012
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Environmental Psychology
- Pediatric Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Understanding children's perceptions of physical activity (PA) environments is crucial for promoting healthy lifestyles.
- Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) offers a promising method for capturing real-time environmental perceptions and behaviors.
- Validating EMA measures against established constructs is essential for their reliable application in research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the convergent construct validity of children's EMA-reported PA setting perceptions against parents' neighborhood perceptions.
- To evaluate the concurrent criterion validity of children's EMA-reported PA setting perceptions against objectively measured physical activity levels.
- To investigate the relationship between children's perceptions of PA settings and their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
Main Methods:
- Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) administered over 8 days to 108 ethnically diverse children (ages 9-13) in Southern California.
- EMA captured children's perceptions of PA settings (vegetation, traffic, safety) and current activity type.
- Parental neighborhood perceptions (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey) and accelerometer-measured MVPA were used for validity assessments.
Main Results:
- Children's perceptions of vegetation and traffic in PA settings aligned with parents' perceptions of neighborhood aesthetics and traffic.
- Higher moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was observed in settings children perceived as having less traffic.
- Findings support the validity of EMA for assessing children's environmental perceptions related to physical activity.
Conclusions:
- This study provides initial evidence for the construct and criterion validity of EMA-based measures of children's perceptions of physical activity environments.
- EMA is a valuable tool for understanding how children perceive their surroundings and how these perceptions relate to their physical activity levels.
- Future research can leverage these validated EMA measures to design targeted interventions promoting physical activity in children.
