- Title
- Development, implementation and evaluation of a family-based intervention to increase physical activity of primary school-aged children and their parents: the FamilyFIT study
- Creator
- Paras, Lorraine
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Background: Physical activity provides important physical and psychological benefits to children. Family-based physical activity programs that target parents and home-environmental factors offer a promising approach to promoting child physical activity however, most of the previous research has been conducted in the school setting. This thesis addresses this limitation by describing the development, implementation and evaluation of an evidence-informed, theoretically-based physical activity intervention (FamilyFIT) delivered in a community setting. The aim of the intervention was to increase physical activity levels in families with primary school-aged children. A scoping review of previous studies and a systematic review of correlates of child physical activity levels were undertaken to inform the selection of intervention strategies. The intervention was based on Social Cognitive Theory and Darling and Steinberg’s Integrated Model of Parenting. Methods: The FamilyFIT intervention comprised eight face-to-face education sessions and family physical activity co-participation. Nine families (n=14 children, n=15 parents) were recruited to a pre-post feasibility trial to assess intervention (implementation, acceptability and quality of resources and delivery) and trial methods (recruitment, retention, adherence, implementation, measurement completion, useable data, acceptability of recruitment strategies and data collection methods). Results: Feasibility benchmarks for eligibility, retention, program implementation and usable data were met. Satisfaction and acceptability were highly rated. Whilst the recruitment and assessment methodologies were deemed acceptable to participants, the benchmarks for consent rate and attendance were not met. Recruiting families was a major challenge. Non-significant positive trends were observed in some child and parent outcomes. Conclusion: Recruiting families into physical activity programs remains a challenge. Once recruited, it was feasible to deliver the intervention. Researchers should target families with low activity levels and explore the potential for different delivery modes, and data collection methods (that do not require a face-to-face commitment). The findings of this feasibility trial will provide vital information to inform the design and methodology for a fully powered efficacy trial.
- Subject
- physical activity; children; parents; family; community; intervention
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1337653
- Identifier
- uon:27886
- Rights
- Copyright 2017 Lorraine Paras
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 23 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 186 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |