Forghani Soong Yasmine, Hollman Heather, Rhodes Ryan E
Behavioural Medicine Laboratory, School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, 3010, Victoria, BC, V8W3N4, Canada.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2025 Jul 22;22(1):101. doi: 10.1186/s12966-025-01782-z.
There are numerous psychosocial and health benefits linked to physical activity; however, 80% of children and youth are not meeting the recommended guidelines. Genetics, socio-economic status and familial factors impact childhood movement behaviors. In particular, active families support well developed and resilient offspring. As the family unit is optimally placed during a critical time in development, it is pertinent to explore the relationship between family functioning and child and youth physical activity.
To synthesize and analyze the literature to determine the associations between general domains of family functioning (general family functioning, cohesion, communication, conflict, organization, family problem-solving ability, household chaos, and affective environment) and child and youth (children: aged five to 12, youth: aged 13 to 17) physical activity.
Literature searches across six databases were performed.
Studies that performed and presented a statistical analysis between direct measurements of child and youth physical activity and general domains of family functioning.
Indirect measurements of family functioning (e.g., support and encouragement). The summary median effect sizes (Pearson r) and interquartile range [IQR] were calculated between child or youth physical activity and each family functioning domain.
Search results k = 12,999. Included articles k = 43. Child physical activity had a small median effect size and indeterminate association with general family functioning (r = 0.09; [IQR]: -0.06 to 0.09) and cohesion (r = 0.06; [IQR]: 0.05 to 0.22). Youth physical activity presented with small median effect sizes and significant positive associations with the domains of general family functioning (r = 0.04; [IQR]: 0.02 to 0.06), cohesion (r = 0.09; [IQR]: 0.07 to 0.14), communication (r = 0.17; [IQR]: 0.09 to 0.40), and a negative association with the domain of conflict (r = -0.09; [IQR]: -0.21 to 0.02). Family problem-solving ability, organization, household chaos, and affective environment were understudied across both age groups.
A small effect size in the domains of cohesion, communication, and conflict highlights the association between child and youth physical activity and family functioning. These findings provide a new avenue for researchers, programmers, and policy writers to target to support child and youth physical activity.
This review is registered with The National Institute for Health and Care Research at The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). PROSPERO ID number is CRD42023454220.
体育活动对心理社会和健康有益；然而，80%的儿童和青少年未达到推荐的指导方针。遗传、社会经济地位和家庭因素会影响儿童的运动行为。特别是，积极活跃的家庭能培养出发育良好且适应力强的后代。由于家庭单元在发育的关键时期处于最佳位置，因此探讨家庭功能与儿童和青少年体育活动之间的关系具有重要意义。
综合分析文献，以确定家庭功能的一般领域（一般家庭功能、凝聚力、沟通、冲突、组织、家庭解决问题的能力、家庭混乱和情感环境）与儿童和青少年（儿童：5至12岁，青少年：13至17岁）体育活动之间的关联。
在六个数据库中进行文献检索。
对儿童和青少年体育活动的直接测量与家庭功能的一般领域之间进行了统计分析的研究。
家庭功能（如支持和鼓励）的间接测量。计算儿童或青少年体育活动与每个家庭功能领域之间的汇总中位数效应大小（Pearson r）和四分位间距[IQR]。
搜索结果k = 12,999。纳入文章k = 43。儿童体育活动与一般家庭功能（r = 0.09；[IQR]：-0.06至0.09）和凝聚力（r = 0.06；[IQR]：0.05至0.22）的中位数效应大小较小且关联不确定。青少年体育活动的中位数效应大小较小，与一般家庭功能领域（r = 0.04；[IQR]：0.02至0.06）、凝聚力（r = 0.09；[IQR]：0.07至0.14）、沟通（r = 0.17；[IQR]：0.09至0.40）呈显著正相关，与冲突领域呈负相关（r = -0.09；[IQR]：-0.21至0.02）。两个年龄组对家庭解决问题的能力、组织、家庭混乱和情感环境的研究都较少。
凝聚力、沟通和冲突领域的效应大小较小，凸显了儿童和青少年体育活动与家庭功能之间的关联。这些发现为研究人员、项目策划者和政策制定者提供了一个新的目标方向，以支持儿童和青少年的体育活动。
本综述已在国际系统评价前瞻性注册库（PROSPERO）的英国国家卫生与保健研究所注册。PROSPERO识别号为CRD42023454220。
