Parent Support for Children’s Physical Activity: A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers and Strategies

Purpose: Parents play an important role in supporting children’s physical activity (PA) behavior. Parent PA support is a behavior unto itself that has been examined within the framework of an adapted theory of planned behavior (TPB). The primary purpose of this research was to identify key barriers to parent PA support to understand perceptions of control in relation to parent PA support. The second purpose of this research was to identify potential strategies to enhance parent PA support via enhanced perceived behavioral control. Method: Focus groups were conducted with parents (N = 21) of children aged 5 to 11 years old. A deductive content analysis was employed to analyze the data guided by an adapted TPB. Results: Themes related to barriers included parents’ motivation, affective experiences in providing PA support, and control factors (e.g., cost, time, safety concerns, screen). Themes related to potential strategies included opportunities for participation and improved affective experiences for parents, community parenting, and self-regulatory strategies. Conclusion: The identification of specific barriers to parent PA support can guide the development of interventions to facilitate parent PA support. Informational, programming, and self-regulatory training interventions may be useful in enhancing parent support.     

Evaluating the prediction of maximal heart rate in children and adolescents

In this study, we compared measured maximal heart rate (HRmax) to two different HRmax prediction equations [22 - age and 208 - 0.7(age)] in 52 children ages 7-17 years. We determined the relationship of chronological age, maturational age, and resting HR to measured HRmax and assessed seated resting HR and HRmax during a graded exercise test. Maturational age was calculated as the maturity offset in years from the estimated age at peak height velocity. Measured HRmax was 201 +/- 10 bpm, whereas predicted HRmax ranged from 199 to 208 bpm. Measured HRmax and the predicted value from the 208 - 0.7(age) prediction were similar but lower (p < .05) than the 220 - age prediction. Absolute differences between measured and predicted HRmax were 8 +/- 5 and 10 +/- 8 bpm for the 208 - 0.7 (age) and 220 - age equations, respectively, and were greater than zero (p < .05). Regression equations using resting HR and maturity offset or chronological age significantly predicted HRmax, although the R2 < .30 and the standard error of estimation (8.2-8.5) limits the accuracy. The 208 - 0.7(age) equation can closely predict mean HRmax in children, but individual variation is still apparent.     

Making the grade: teacher training for inclusive education: A systematic review

The role of teacher training, as it pertains to the adoption of inclusive education (IE) (European Journal of Special, 22, 2007, 367), is critical in realizing and achieving truly IE environments. Literature often reports poor or inadequate training with regard to IE practices (Preparing Teachers of the Deaf for a Complex, Jacksonville, FL). The purpose of this review was to examine North American and Australian research regarding teacher training for students with disabilities (SWD) with the goal of informing best practice. Of the 27 reviewed studies, teacher training interventions reported positive outcomes and showed improvements in the areas of teachers’ attitudes/perceptions, knowledge, and strategies/skill development (Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 32, 2009, 166) regarding IE SWD. The researchers cautiously recommend the employment of workshop style approaches as they appear to have the capacity to tackle all three outcome variables concurrently and within the shortest timeframe. Our restrained recommendations for best practice are born out of the quality of evidence presented within the reviewed studies.     

Sex differences in lower extremity kinematics and patellofemoral kinetics during running

The incidence of patellofemoral pain (PFP) is 2 times greater in females compared with males of similar activity levels; however, the exact reason for this discrepancy remains unclear. Abnormal mechanics of the hip and knee in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes have been associated with an increased risk of PFP. The purpose of this study was to compare the mechanics of the lower extremity in males and females during running in order to better understand the reason(s) behind the sex discrepancy in PFP. Three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data were collected as male and female participants completed overground running trials at a speed of 4.0 m · s^?1 (±5%). Patellofemoral joint stress (PFJS) was estimated using a sagittal plane knee model. The kinematics of the hip and knee in the frontal and transverse planes were also analysed. Male participants demonstrated significantly greater sagittal plane peak PFJS in comparison with the female participants (P < .001, ES = 1.9). However, the female participants demonstrated 3.5° greater peak hip adduction and 3.4° greater peak hip internal rotation (IR). As a result, it appears that the sex discrepancy in PFP is more likely to be related to differences in the kinematics of the hip in the frontal and transverse planes than differences in sagittal plane PFJS.     

A comparative analysis of the Bender-Gestalt and beery/buktenica tests of visual-motor integration as a function of grade level for regular education students

One hundred twenty-five randomly selected regular education students in grades kindergarten through three were administered the Bender-Gestalt and Beery/Buktenica tests of visual-motor integration. Significant differences between the mean Bender and Beery age equivalent scores at each grade level were found. Correlation coefficients ranged from.21 at the kindergarten level to.71 for the total group and were significant at the first and second grade, as well as for the total group. Implications for their utilization in assessing fine motor readiness development, particularly as they apply to the identification of learning disabilities, are discussed.     

Learning From Others: The Effects of Agency on Event Memory in Young Children

Little is known about the influence of social context on children's event memory. Across four studies, we examined whether learning that could occur in the absence of a person was more robust when a person was present. Three-year-old children (N = 125) viewed sequential events that either included or excluded an acting agent. In Experiment 1, children who viewed an agent recalled more than children who did not. Experiments 2a and 2b utilized an eye tracker to demonstrate this effect was not due to differences in attention. Experiment 3 used a combined behavioral and event-related potential paradigm to show that condition effects were present in memory-related components. These converging results indicate a particular role for social knowledge in supporting memory for events.     

The revised test of visual-motor integration: Its relation to the test of visual-motor integration and bender visual-motor gestalt test for regular education students

Comparisons were made among three tests of visual-motor integration: The Revised Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI-R), the Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI), and the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (BG). BG age equivalent scores were significantly higher than those obtained for either the VMI-R or VMI. Although the BG age scores were greater than the respective chronological age, such was not the case when CA was compared to either the VMI-R or VMI. The VMI-R yielded higher scores than did the VMI. Highly significant correlations were found among all variables.