School of Education, College of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Health Educ Res. 2011 Feb;26(1):63-76. doi: 10.1093/her/cyq071. Epub 2010 Nov 8.
This mixed method paper explored the effect of family structure on children's physical activities and sedentary pursuits. It furthers the limited understanding of how family structure impacts on children's time in, and reasons behind engaging in, certain physical activities. Children from three inner city comprehensive schools in the Midlands, United Kingdom, participated through questionnaires (n = 381) and semi-structured interviews (n = 62). The results indicated that boys and girls from single parent families spent more time in sedentary activities during the week and at the weekend (P < 0.01) when compared with their intact couple family counterparts. It was identified that children in single-parent families received less parental support due to a lack of time, transport and additional parental responsibilities that created a family environment that encouraged sedentary pursuits. Moreover, the barriers that encouraged sedentary activities also prevented children in single parent families from engaging in lifetime activities during the week. Children from intact couple families recorded more time in lifetime activities than those in single parent families (P < 0.01). Finally, children in two-parent families had more opportunities to engage not only in these activities individually but also in joint activities with their parents, further reinforcing these behaviours.
本文采用混合方法，探究了家庭结构对儿童身体活动和久坐行为的影响。该研究进一步深入探讨了家庭结构如何影响儿童参与特定身体活动的时间和原因。英国中部三个市中心综合学校的儿童通过问卷调查（n=381）和半结构化访谈（n=62）参与了研究。结果表明，与完整核心家庭的孩子相比，来自单亲家庭的男孩和女孩在一周内和周末的久坐时间更多（P<0.01）。研究发现，由于时间、交通和额外的父母责任的缺乏，单亲家庭的孩子得到的父母支持较少，这营造了一个鼓励久坐的家庭环境。此外，鼓励久坐活动的障碍也阻止了单亲家庭的孩子在一周内参与终身活动。来自完整核心家庭的孩子比单亲家庭的孩子记录的终身活动时间更多（P<0.01）。最后，来自双亲家庭的孩子不仅有更多机会单独参与这些活动，也有更多机会与父母一起参与联合活动，这进一步强化了这些行为。
