School performance, lack of facilities, and safety concerns: barriers to parents' support of their children's physical activity.
OBJECTIVE
To identify barriers to parents' support of their children's physical activity (PA) and to develop a survey to assess such barriers.


METHODS
Eighty-two parents (40 white; 36 African-American; 6 other) of elementary school-aged children participated in small-group interviews. Parents reported barriers to supporting their children's PA and suggested possible solutions. This information was used to develop the Barriers to Activity Support Scale (BASS), which was completed by 75 of the 82 parents along with a survey that assessed the parents' support for their children's PA.


RESULTS
Parents reported community-based, interpersonal, and intrapersonal barriers to supporting their children's PA. Top barriers included the importance of children's school performance, a lack of facilities, and concerns about safety. Parents who reported greater barriers reported lower support for their children's PA.


CONCLUSIONS
Results provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the BASS and highlight the need to address barriers during the development of family-based PA programs.
Davison
Kirsten Krahnstoever
KK
Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior, University at Albany, State University of New York, One University Place, Room 183, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA. kdavison@albany.edu
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012449:Safety; D012574:Schools; D012944:Social Support; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013598:Systems Theory