The physical activity parenting practices (PAPP) item Bank: a psychometrically validated tool for improving the measurement of physical activity parenting practices of parents of 5–12-year-old children

Abstract

Background Many tools have been developed to measure physical activity parenting practices (PAPP). Currently, there is little standardization on how PAPP constructs are operationalized for 5–12 year-old children. Given this lack of consistency our team have started the process of standardizing the measurement of PAPP by developing an item bank which was conceptually informed by 24 experts from 6 countries. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the psychometric properties of the PAPP item bank using the expert-informed PAPP conceptual framework. Methods A sample (N = 626) of Canadian parents completed the PAPP item bank (100 items measuring 12 constructs). Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA), confirmatory bi-factor item analyses, and Item Response Modeling (IRM) were used to assess the structural validity of scores derived from the PAPP item bank. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and Differential Response Functioning (DRF) were used to determine whether the PAPP items are invariant by parent sex, ethnicity of parent, and household income. Finally, Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) simulations were used to determine the efficiency of the item bank – this involved ascertaining whether each construct can be assessed with fewer items. Results The PAPP expert-informed conceptual framework was mainly supported by the CFA analyses. Notable changes included: a) collapsing smaller constructs into one general construct (modeling, co-participation, and monitoring constructs were collapsed into a construct assessing nondirective support); or b) splitting a construct into two smaller constructs (restrict for safety reason construct was split into indoor physical activity restriction and allowance for unsupervised outside physical activity). While the CFA analyses supported the structural validity of 11 constructs, the bi-factor item analyses and IRM analyses supported collapsing correlated constructs into more general constructs. These analyses further reduced the number of constructs measured by the PAPP item bank to nine constructs (65 items – reliability ranging from .79 to .94). As seven of the PAPP constructs had reliability greater than .80, CAT simulations further reduced the number of items to 31 items. Conclusion Overall, the PAPP item bank has excellent psychometric properties and provides an efficient way to assess PAPP.

Relationships between Physical Activity Parenting Practices and Children’s Activity Measured by Accelerometry with Children’s Activity Style as a Moderator—A Cross Sectional Study

“…The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between the physical activity parenting practices (PAPP) Structure, Autonomy promotion, and Neglect/control, and children’s physical activity measured with accelerometry while considering a moderating effect of the children’s activity style. To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring the effect of a child’s physical activity style as moderator between PAPP and a child’s physical activity, using items from the updated item bank developed by Masse et al [ 33 ]. Although no significant associations were found in our analyses, our conceptual model showed acceptable fit to the data, suggesting that activity style should be further explored as a moderator when analyzing the relationship between PAPP and children’s physical activity.…”

“…In this study, we tested a new conceptual model using SEM between PAPP and children’s physical activity and sedentary behavior assessed by accelerometry, with the inclusion of children’s activity style as a moderating factor. It was a strength of the study that we used the PAPP domains that have recently been updated and have shown good psychometric properties [ 33 ]. A limitation to the items used to assess the children’s activity style [ 24 ] was that only three out of five items were used in this study, although this decision was made to keep the response burden low.…”

“…However, a new item bank was at the time under development by 24 experts from 6 countries and we selected 25 items from that item bank. Since then, the final item bank and its good psychometric properties have been described [ 33 ] with reasonable to good model fit (root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) < 0.08, the comparative fit index (CFI) ≥ 0.95, and internal consistency ranging from 0.79 to 0.94). Furthermore, items have been deemed invariant across groups of parents’ sex, ethnicity, and income [ 33 ].…”

“…Since then, the final item bank and its good psychometric properties have been described [ 33 ] with reasonable to good model fit (root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) < 0.08, the comparative fit index (CFI) ≥ 0.95, and internal consistency ranging from 0.79 to 0.94). Furthermore, items have been deemed invariant across groups of parents’ sex, ethnicity, and income [ 33 ]. Of the 25 items initially chosen from the first item bank for this study, 9 items were not included in the final item bank; therefore, 16 items were included in the present study.…”

“…Physical activity parenting practices (PAPP) domains, constructs, and items included in the study from the item bank by Masse et al, which was published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License[33]. I make sure my child has the physical activity or sport equipment to use when they want to play outside (such as soccer balls, basketballs, or active outdoor toys)…”