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The reliability and validity of a physical activity and sedentary behaviour home audit tool for children aged
Fiona E Patience1, Katherine L Downing2, Kylie D Hesketh2
1School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Australia.
Insights
This study assessed the reliability and validity of a home environment audit tool for young children. The SPACES tool demonstrated good reliability and validity for many home environment features influencing physical activity and sedentary behavior.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Environmental Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- The home environment significantly influences young children's physical activity and sedentary behavior.
- Validated tools are needed to assess home environment characteristics impacting child behavior.
- The SPACES (Screening and Prevention of Activity-related Childhood Environmental Settings) tool was developed to audit the home environment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and validity of the SPACES home environment audit tool.
- To assess the tool's suitability for measuring factors affecting physical activity and sedentary behavior in children aged 2-5 years.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study design was employed.
- Reliability was tested using parent self-report surveys (n=55) administered twice, 12 days apart.
- Validity was assessed via researcher home observations (n=21) following parent surveys, analyzing indoor/outdoor environmental features.
Main Results:
- The SPACES tool showed acceptable reliability (80.4%) and validity (53.4%) for most items.
- Outdoor environment items demonstrated substantial agreement for both reliability and validity (ICC=0.84-0.95).
- Indoor items, including physical activity and screen time equipment, showed varied reliability and validity (ICC range: 0.15-0.83).
Conclusions:
- The SPACES home audit tool is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing many home environment features.
- This tool can be utilized in future research to investigate the home environment's role in children's physical activity and sedentary behaviors.
- Further refinement may enhance the validity of specific indoor environmental item assessments.
Objectives:
To test the reliability and validity of a physical activity and sedentary behaviour home environment audit tool for young children (2-5 years old).
Design:
Cross-sectional.
Methods:
Parents of children aged 2-5 years were recruited through online methods (i.e., social media and blogs). Reliability of the SPACES home audit tool was assessed using self-reported surveys (n = 55) completed on two separate occasions, approximately 12 days apart. Validity of the home audit tool was assessed in a separate sample via home observations by researchers conducted after parents completed the self-report survey (n = 21). The audit tool measured indoor and outdoor home environment characteristics hypothesised to influence young children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Data were analysed using intraclass correlations (ICCs) and Kappas.
Results:
The majority of items demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity (80.4% and 53.4%, respectively). Size of the child's bedroom showed substantial agreement for reliability (ICC = 0.85), and slight agreement for validity (ICC = 0.23). Physical activity equipment items within the indoor environment showed slight to moderate agreement for reliability (ICC = 0.32-0.68) and slight agreement for validity (ICC = 0.15-0.35). Screen time equipment showed substantial agreement for reliability (ICC = 0.83) and fair for validity (ICC = 0.38). Outdoor items (e.g., backyard size, availability and condition of physical activity equipment, outdoor features) showed substantial agreement for reliability and validity (ICC = 0.84-0.95).
Conclusions:
The home audit tool was found to be reliable and valid for many items. This tool could be used in future research to understand the impact of the home environment on young children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
