Employment hours and family environment factors might be significant predictors of compliance in a 24-week family home-based physical activity intervention in families with children who have Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), according to a study published in Obesity Pillars.
The goal of this study was to determine which parental and familial factors predicted completion of and compliance with a home-based family physical activity program in families with a child who has PWS or with obesity and neurotypical development.
The researchers recruited 41 parents of children with PWS and 64 parents of children with obesity but no PWS and asked them to complete questionnaires about their demographic characteristics, self-efficacy, social support, and family environment.
They used bivariate correlations and logistic regression to (compliance) and multiple regression to evaluate correlations between these factors and intervention completion and compliance, as well as multiple regression analyses to evaluate groups together and separately if the child group was a significant predictor.
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According to the results, the variables of interest, including marital status, employment, employed hours per week, self-efficacy, social support, and family environment, could not be associated with intervention completion.
There was a negative association between intervention compliance and parents working part- and full-time, as well as a positive association between intervention compliance and family cohesion. The child group was not an important factor.
“Building strategies to foster family cohesion could in turn facilitate intervention compliance. Unfortunately, employment hours are a difficult factor for parents to control and/or modify. This aspect must continue to be considered by including elements that increase flexibility in the intervention delivery to decrease the burden on the participants,” Honea and colleagues concluded.
PWS is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder marked by genetic obesity, hyperphagia, hormonal deficiencies, behavioral, intellectual, and motor difficulties, as well as low levels of physical activity.
Reference
Honea EK, Wilson SK, Fisher KL, Rubin DA. Parental and familial factors related to participation in a home-based physical activity intervention in children with obesity or Prader-Willi syndrome. Obesity Pillars. Published online August 16, 2023. doi:10.1016/j.obpill.2023.100084
