The Effects of Mothers’ Self-Efficacy on Children’s Physical Activity

Physical activity has many health benefits, and numerous studies have shown the association between regular physical activity and prevention of about 25 chronic diseases. The guidelines recommend that everyone should try to make physical activity a part of their daily life in order to prevent the unhealthy consequences of sedentary behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of maternal self-efficacy on children’s physical activity. Inclusion criteria for schoolchildren were: studying at the 5thor 6th grade, relative body mass index of over 85 BMI, and having no restriction or prohibition for regular physical activity. Thus, a total of 300 schoolchildren with their mothers (600 participants) were recruited. To assess children’s physical activity (CPA) and maternal physical activity (MPA) we applied the previous day physical activity recall (PDPAR) tool and the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), respectively. Mother’s self-efficacy (MSE) was measured using an eight-item standard questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation test was applied to assess the relationship between MSE, MPA and CPA. To assess the predictor effect of MSE on CPA, the linear regression model was used. Means and standard deviations of age of children and their mothers were 11.2 ± 1.1 and 31.2 ± 3.4 years, respectively. Nearly half (46.5%) of the mothers had no formal education and most of them (58.5%) were housewife. There was a significant positive relationship between these three variables (r (CPA × MPA) = 0.748, r (MPA × MSE) = 0.347, r (CPA × MSE) = 0.433, P ≤ 0.05)). The maternal physical activity explained approximately 56% (R2 = 0.559) of physical activity performance in children (CPA). Maternal physical activity affects children’s physical activity, and is affected by mother’s self-efficacy. Yet based on the findings of this study, regarding the role model effects of mothers in children aged 10-12 years, researchers proposed that interventions related to physical activity in children would work better if they are set to increase self-efficacy in mothers, which in turn lead to increased physical activity in children.