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Parental Beliefs, Parental Support, and Physical Activity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Network
Minghui Lu1, Ting Duan2, Qinqin Zou3
1Department of Special Education, School of Education, Guangzhou University, No. 230, West Waihuan Street, Panyu District, Guangzhou, China.
Insights
Parental encouragement and making physical activity easy are key to increasing physical activity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These factors connect parental beliefs and support to children's engagement in exercise.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit lower physical activity levels compared to neurotypical peers.
- Parental involvement is crucial for promoting physical activity engagement in children with ASD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between parental beliefs, support, and physical activity in children with ASD using network analysis.
- To compare these associations across two age groups: 6-11 years and 12-18 years.
Main Methods:
- Network analysis, specifically the EBICglasso model, was employed.
- Data were collected from 269 Chinese parents of children with ASD.
- A Network Comparison Test was used to analyze age-group differences.
Main Results:
- Parental encouragement and perceived ease of participation emerged as significant bridge nodes.
- These nodes linked parental beliefs and support to physical activity in children with ASD.
- Age-specific differences included perceived friendship benefits (younger children) and parental support for explaining benefits (older children).
Conclusions:
- Parental encouragement and making participation seem easy are critical factors for physical activity in children with ASD.
- Understanding these network structures can inform targeted interventions.
Purpose:
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to be physically less active than their peers. Parents play an important role in their children's engagement in physical activities. This study adopted network analysis to examine the association between parental beliefs, support, and physical activity in children with ASD and compared the differences in the association patterns between two age groups (6-11 vs. 12-18 years).
Methods:
We surveyed 269 Chinese parents of children with ASD regarding their beliefs, support, and their children's physical activity. The networks were constructed using the Extended Bayesian Information Criterion Graphical Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (EBICglasso) model, and differences between age groups were examined using a Network Comparison Test.
Results:
Supportive parental behaviors of encouragement and perceived ease of participation were identified as key bridge nodes connecting parental beliefs and support with physical activity engagement in children with ASD. The unique bridge node was parent-perceived benefits related to friendships for younger children, whereas parental support was used to explain the benefits of physical activity for older children.
Conclusion:
The research findings indicate that parental encouragement and perceived ease of participation are key factors associated with physical activity in children with ASD.
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