All in the Family: Promoting Family Function Through Physical Activity

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Family Functioning; Physical Activity

• Registration Number: NCT06098716
• Lead Sponsor: University of Victoria

Brief Summary

The goal of this trial is to find out whether adding identity-building and self-regulation training to basic healthy-living education helps families with inactive children (ages 6-12) become more cohesive and physically active. The main question it aims to answer is:

Does the identity + self-regulation + education program improve family cohesion more than (a) self-regulation + education or (b) education alone?

Researchers will compare three groups-identity+self-regulation+education (ID), self-regulation+education (SR), and education-only (ED)-to see which produces the greatest improvements.

Participants will:

1. attend three online workshops at baseline plus two booster sessions at 6-week and 3-month with a project coordinator;

2. complete online questionnaires at baseline, 6-week, 3-month, and 6-month;

3. take part in an exit interview at 6 months.

Detailed Description

The primary objective of this study is to test the efficacy of three family physical activity (PA) interventions on a key family functioning outcome-family cohesion-through increased PA in children and parent-child co-PA. Our study tests three intervention conditions: 1) identity (ID; promotion of a PA parenting identities + self-regulation skills + education), 2) self-regulation (SR; promotion of PA parenting self-regulation skills + education) and 3) education (ED; an education about PA control condition). It is hypothesised that (H1): The ID condition will show significantly larger changes in family cohesion compared to the two other conditions after six-months (primary end-point) and (H2): The SR condition will show significantly larger changes in family cohesion compared to the ED control condition after six-months.

There are three secondary objectives for this study. First, this study aims to assess the impact of the three interventions on the remaining family-functioning dimensions-flexibility and organisation-and on behavioural outcomes (child MVPA and parent-child co-PA) at the 6-month end-point. The ID condition is hypothesized to lead to significantly greater increases in family flexibility, family organization, child MVPA and parent-child co-PA compared to the SR and ED conditions after six months (H3), with the SR condition also expected to outperform the ED condition in these PA outcomes (H4).

Second, this study will also investigate whether group differences in child and parent PA and family functioning outcomes can be explained through a mediation model based on the Multi-Process Action Control (M-PAC) framework. It is hypothesized that changes in child MVPA and parent-child co-PA will mediate the relationship between the intervention groups and family functioning outcomes. These changes in PA behaviors are expected to be predicted by alterations in family social identity and parental PA support identity, which will, in turn, be influenced by parental attitudes, perceptions of control (reflective processes), and behavioral self-regulation (regulatory processes) regarding child PA (H5).

Third, the present study will explore the potential moderating effects of seasonal variation, child sex, dual/single-parent status, parent sex and gender, child age, intervention adherence, and the type and format of PA on the primary outcomes across the three intervention conditions. While no specific hypotheses are pre-set for these factors, it is anticipated that participation in PA may decrease during winter due to weather conditions, and single-parent families might face more barriers to parent-child co-PA, leading to lower participation levels. Additionally, the composition and frequency patterns of child MVPA may influence family functioning outcomes differently across the intervention conditions.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-10-19
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-10-19
• Study First Posted: 2023-10-24
• Study Start: 2024-09-01
• Status Verified: 2025-06
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-06-20
• Last Update Posted: 2025-06-26
• Primary Completion: 2028-03-30
• Study Completion: 2028-03-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 165

Inclusion Criteria

Participants will be at least one parent with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 12 years.

Families (parents and/or guardians and children) residing in Canada. Children that participate in <60 minutes/day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

Exclusion Criteria

If child is meeting the current physical activity guidelines >=60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day.

If the participant does not pass the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PARQ) If children's age falls outside the 6-12 year range

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Family cohesion	Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months	Family cohension will be assessed using FAD \& FACES IV subscale = 1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Generally Disagree; 3 = Undecided; 4 = Generally Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Parental support and M-PAC Constructs	Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months	Parental support for child PA: 6-item activity-related parenting practices scale Parental support identity: 3-item version of the Exercise Identity Scale Family PA identity: 4-item scale from Doosje, Ellemers 's ingroup identification measure Parental support habits: 4-item version of the Self-Reported Habit Strength Index Behavioral regulation of parental support: 11-item Physical Activity Regulation Scale Perceived capability and perceived opportunity: 7-item perceived control measure Attitude: 6-item affective and instrumental attitude scale Parental intention: 2-item decisional intention and intention strength scale
Family functioning outcomes (i.e., family organisation and flexibility)	Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months	Family organisation and flexibility will be assessed using FAD \& FACES IV subscale = 1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Generally Disagree; 3 = Undecided; 4 = Generally Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree
Children's moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA)	Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months	Children's physical activity will be quantified by Self Report using Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C)
Parent-child intergenerational activity measured via parent self-report	Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months	For parent-child co-PA, the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire will be used.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Victoria; 🇨🇦 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada