Psychometric Properties of Instruments to Measure Parenting Practices and Children's Movement Behaviors in Low-income Families From Brazil

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity has increased remarkably in low and middle-income (LMIC) countries. Movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time, and sleep) are crucial in the development of overweight and obesity in young children. Yet, few studies have investigated the relationship between children´s movement behaviors and parenting practices because validated measures for use among families from LMIC are lacking. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of previously validated measures of young children’s physical activity, screen time, and sleep and parenting practices, translated and culturally adapted to Brazilian families. Methods: A total of 78 parent-child dyads completed an interviewer-administered survey twice within 7 days. Child physical activity, sedentary time and sleep were concurrently measured using a wrist-worn accelerometer. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC’s). Concurrent validity was evaluated by calculating Spearman correlations between parent reported child behaviors and accelerometer measured behaviors. Results: Parenting practices scales exhibited acceptable internal consistency with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.66 - 0.88. Test-retest reliability ICC’s were acceptable and ranged from 0.82 - 0.99. Parent reported child physical activity was positively correlated with objectively measured total movement (rho= 0.29 - 0.46, p < .05) and energetic play (rho=0.29 – 0.40, p < .05). Parent reported child screen time was positively correlated with objectively measured sedentary time; (rho = 0.26, p < .05), and inversely correlated with total movement (rho = - 0.39 – - 0.41, p < .05) and energetic play (rho = - 0.37 – - 0.41, p < .05). Parent reported night-time sleep duration was significantly correlated with accelerometer measured sleep duration on weekdays (rho = 0.29, p < .05), but not weekends. Conclusions: Measurement tools to assess children’s movement behaviors and parenting practices, translated and culturally adapted for use in Brazilian families, exhibited acceptable evidence of concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.

Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines among rural Brazalian preschool children: associations with parenting practices

“…Supportive parenting practices included explicit modelling and enjoyment of physical activity, verbal encouragement for physical activity, importance and value of physical activity, exposure to screens, and explicit modelling and enjoyment of screen time. In a Brazilian sample of pre-school children, these scales presented evidence of acceptable internal consistency (McDonald's Omega = 0.71-0.89) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.82-0.99) [28].…”

“…Scores were calculated using a weighted average of weekday and weekend reports. In a Brazilian sample of pre-school children, this measure exhibited strong evidence of test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.94), and construct validity based on device-measured sedentary time; (rho = 0.26, p < .05), total movement (rho = − 0.41, p < .05) and energetic play (rho = − 0.37, p < .05) [28].…”

“…Parenting practices related to physical activity and screen time were measured using scales developed by Vaughn and colleagues [31] -culturally adapted and validated for use among Brazilian families [27,28]. These scales measure theory-based parenting practices used to control or support children's physical activity and screen time behaviors.…”

Factors Associated with Motor Competence in Preschoolers from a Brazilian Urban Area

“…Moreover, we did not use a direct method to measure the children's physical activity levels. However, we used a validated questionnaire (Gonçalves et al, 2021), previously used in another study from our group (Viegas et al, 2021), which presents a strong correlation with the level of physical activity in children (Määttä et al, 2018).…”

“…Motor skills are classified into (1) mobility skills (e.g., running, sliding, jumping), (2) manipulation and control object skills (e.g., hitting, kicking, throwing, catching), (3) stability and body control skills (e.g., balance) (Gallahue et al, 2012). The delay in acquiring MC, particularly during preschool years (Bardid et al, 2016;Niemistö et al, 2019), can negatively impact children's self-esteem (Golding et al, 2014) and physical activity levels (Stodden et al, 2008). The rapid MC development that occurs during the preschool years is supposed to be related to the rapid maturation of the prefrontal cortex and cognitive skills (i.e., working memory, planning, thinking flexibility, attention, and imitation) (Garon et al, 2008;Howard et al, 2015;Cook et al, 2019).…”