Does parents’ support for physical activity at age 3.5 predict how physically capable children feel at age 5?

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A positive perception of motor skills is important for participation in physical activity. This study investigated which modifiable factors predict children’s perceived motor skills.

Mothers completed questionnaires when their children were 3.5 and 5 years old, and children’s perceived motor competence (PMC) was assessed at age 5. The observational study included prospective and cross-sectional analyses. Separate linear regression models, including up to 300 children and adjusted for relevant confounders, examined which factors at each time point predicted children’s PMC. Factors associated with perception at p < 0.10 were then entered into multivariate models.

In the initial analyses of factors measured at age 3.5, spending time with same-age and older children—both higher tertiles—and greater parental facilitation of physical activity were associated with higher perceived motor competence. Parental facilitation was measured as the sum of facilitation over the last month, such as taking the child to a park. Dance/gymnastics participation was associated with lower perceived motor competence. Other child behaviours, maternal beliefs, play equipment, and swimming lessons were not significantly associated with perceived motor competence.

In the final prospective model (n = 226), parental facilitation of physical activity when children were 3.5 years old was the only factor that predicted their PMC at age 5. No factors were significant in the cross-sectional analyses at age 5.

The authors suggest that perceptions are formed from past experiences, which may explain why factors at age 3.5, rather than current experiences at age 5, were associated with children’s perceptions.