29th Apr 2024

Introduction:
Parents play a crucial role in shaping a child’s physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep (i.e. 24-hour movement behaviours). However, inconsistent research findings on the relationship between parenting and these behaviours underscore the need for a nuanced understanding. Leveraging the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as an organizing framework holds promise in clarifying this complex relationship. This study aims to investigate the relationship between parenting constructs conceptualized within the SDT and 24-hour movement behaviours in preschoolers.
Methods:
This cross sectional study focuses on children between 2,5 to 5 years old and one of their parents. Data collection spans December 2023 to February 2024. The 24-hour movement behaviours will be measured for seven consecutive days using ActiGraph wGT3X+ accelerometers and processed by GGIR package in R. A questionnaire, encompassing the Parent Social Context Questionnaire-Toddlers, gauges parenting dimensions within the SDT framework. This includes warmth, autonomy support, structure, rejection, coercion, and chaos. Supplementary questions derived from the Movie Models study assess structure, autonomy support, and positive involvement specifically for each of the behaviours. Multiple compositional regression analyses will be employed in R, with significance set at p<0.05.
Results:
In total, 141 parent-child dyads are participating. Preliminary results (n=25) show 515.71 (SD=89.64) minutes of PA/day, 172.67 (SD=54.64) minutes of SB/day (p=0.752), and 623.08 (SD=44.64) minutes of sleep/day. Regression models will investigate which parenting constructs contribute to a more favourable 24-hour composition, characterized by increased physical activity, reduced sedentary behaviour, and sufficient sleep. The results will be available and presented at SSHB 2024.
Conclusions:
A comprehensive understanding of the parenting constructs influencing a favourable 24-hour movement behaviour composition might provide actionable guidance for promoting healthier movement behaviours in preschoolers.