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Introduction: Previous studies have shown that physical activity (PA) is linked to a variety of health outcomes such as obesity in youth, and Hispanic youth in particular (Limbers et al., 2014). However, less is known about risk and protective factors that contribute to PA in Hispanic youth. The impact of parental factors on youth physical activity, including stress and social support, may be particularly important to examine in Hispanic youth due to the strong emphasis on family values. The purpose of the present study was to investigate (a) whether the effects of parental stress extend to physical activity among Hispanic youth, and (b) whether social support moderates any observed association between parental stress and physical activity among Hispanic youth.
Methods: This study utilized baseline data from an ongoing randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a Hispanic-specific, family-based, obesity preventive intervention. The study sample consisted of 280 Hispanic overweight or obese 8th grade youth and their primary caregivers, recruited from middle schools in Miami-Dade County. Parent-reported parental stress was measured using the Hispanic Stress Inventory (Cervantes et al., 1991). Adolescent-reported social support was measured using the Support for Exercise Scale (Sallis et al., 1987). Finally, adolescent-reported daily physical activity was measured using the global physical activity questionnaire (WHO, 2012). To calculate the average number of physical activity minutes, youth engaged in various activities were taken into account (e.g., recreational activities).
Results and Conclusions: Multiple regression analyses showed that parental stress was negatively associated with physical activity ( = -.14, p < .05) and that social support was positively associated with physical activity ( = .22, p < .001). The moderating effects of social support on the association between parental stress and physical activity were not significant ( = .004, p = .956). A clearer understanding of the influence of the risk and protective factors (i.e., parental stress and social support) on physical activity may aid in the design of future obesity preventive interventions for Hispanic youth.