Research You Can Use

ARE YOUNG CHILDREN BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH?

The impending arrival of a child is a time of expectation, worry, joy and excitement.
A lot of time is spent by parents preparing for the child and anticipating the childs needs and
how they will provide the best possible care. This devotion to the needs of the child becomes
paramount to the parents and with this intense focus upon the child, it is not surprising that
other aspects of life go out of focus, such as health sustaining physical activity.
A selection of research reports has suggested that having a child may in fact be
detrimental to the health of some parents. Factors such as lack of time and support, fatigue,
and commitment to other role obligations such as employment ,have all been identified as
barriers to parents engaging in health promoting behaviour (Bellows-Riecken & Rhodes,
2008; Brown, Brown, Miller, &Hansen, 2001; Hamilton & White, 2010; McIntyre & Rhodes,
2009).
Yet there are couples raising children who continue to participate in health sustaining
physical activity, so is it fair to blame child rearing? Are there other factors involved that are
far more influential and powerful in the decision making process than the arrival of a child?
While raising a family presents many additional challenges, what are the specific drivers and
inhibitors to health sustaining physical activity? What are the impacts of social influences and
the physical activity intentions of parents of young-children families? A recent Australian
research study (Hamilton & White, 2012) has sought to answer these questions using an
extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model.

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TPB and its forerunner the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein &Ajzen, 1975) have
both been highly successful in predicting behaviour in research on social and health studies.
They are both a belief-based models that determine the strength of influences upon behaviour
via intention. The TPB proposes the strongest influence upon behaviour is a persons
intentions. Eg.,I intend to do regular physical exercise in the next week. In most cases a
person intends to act the way they do, although some intentions are never put into action.
The model proposes that intentions are influenced by three main belief based
constructs: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control (Ajzen, 1991). For
each behavioural belief a person associates an attitude that is a judgement of good or bad
(positive or negative). Eg., Physical exercise improves my fitness may be my belief about the
behaviour and my attitude may be that exercising to stay fit is good. The subjective norms
refer to the perceived pressure from close significant others about the behaviour. Eg., My
parents and close friends like me to exercise. Perceived behavioural control influences
behaviour directly and indirectly through intention. Eg.,It is difficult to exercise as I am so
busy.
The influence of subjective norm had been criticised in the research literature as it
doesnt measure fully the wider social influences acting upon people. So in order to improve
the model the researchers added the constructs of Descriptive Norms and Group Norms from
the area of social identity theory to measure the perceptions of important others behaviour

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Research You Can Use

and the influence of group membership. Eg.,My work friends dont like exercising. This
differs from subjective norm that includes only close friends.
It was argued that social influences might be especially important for parents of
young children as they are intertwined within social networks, with the family unit being one
such network. Social support, involving family support and friend support, was added which
is a measure of perceived actions. Eg.,My neighbours mind the children for one hour each
day so that I can exercise. Self-identity was also added and refers to the hierarchy of most
valued self-identities that an individual possesses, where the most valued has the most
influence. Eg.,I have always seen myself as a sporting person, so I need to exercise.
Hamilton and Whites (2012) study involved 580 Australian parents (288 mothers and
292 fathers) of children younger than 5 years. The results indicated that for both genders,
attitude, control factors, group norms, friend general support, and an active parent identity
predicted intentions. For mothers, social pressure and family support also significantly
influenced intentions while for fathers, the influence of active others supported their
intentions.
Hamilton and White (2012) claimed that attention to these factors and those specific
to the genders may improve parents intentions to be physically active, thus maximizing the
benefits to their own health and the healthy lifestyle practices for other family members. They
provide a range of practical suggestions to support their claim at the end of the paper.

References
Hamilton, K., & White, K. M. (2012). Social influences and the physical activity intentions
of parents of young-children families: An extended Theory of Planned Behavior
approach. Journal of Family Issues, 33(10) 1351 1372

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