Mother's and daughter's : interplay of physical activity with personal, behavioral, and environmental factors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the family dynamics in order to further understand and discover through interviews a parent and their children's behaviors in the topic area of physical activity choices. A narrative case study approach was taken to look into each family's experiences in order to better understand their motivations behind physical activity and to make conclusions of the social, environmental, and behavioral dynamics.

Semi-structured interviews were completed with the parent and then with the child individually for a total of three families and four children. Family A is from South Korea living in Finland, family B is from Finland and living in Finland, family C is originally from and residing in the United States of America. Before data collection, a pilot study was conducted and the researcher made modifications based on these.

The background theory was social cognitive theory along with the transtheoretical model for change. The findings revealed much more than was first sought after. The first family was greatly affected by culture, the second family was influenced by culture and had the most direct effect from parent to child physical activity behaviors, and the third family was most effected by experience, culture, and parenting style.

The analysis discovered that the transtheoretical model stages of change had no direct correlation to the child's physical activity behavior choices in two of the three families. Finding of the present study gives an insight regarding family interactions and how the environment truly effect's our behavior choices and how we raise our children. This qualitative study is helpful to assist future researchers in developing more in depth and more expansive research within the family environment.