Parents’ Experiences of Starting and Maintaining Exercise: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Ingram, George, McCormick, Alister and Gibson, Kass (2021) Parents’ Experiences of Starting and Maintaining Exercise: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 57. ISSN 14690292

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Abstract

We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies investigating the experiences of parents in relation to their uptake and maintenance of exercise, focusing on aerobic endurance-type exercise. The review aimed to synthesise qualitative findings relating to the motives, barriers, facilitators, emotions, and support of parents, and to suggest applied implications. Electronic bibliographic databases (Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Scopus, Academic Search Complete, and PsychArticles) were searched with relevant keywords to identify published peer-reviewed journal articles. Articles were included if they used a qualitative methodology to collect and analyse the data, and if they involved parents (of at least one child up to age 18) engaging in one or more type of aerobic endurance-type exercise from a position of limited fitness and parenthood. Ten studies were included in the final review, which used a narrative synthesis of data. Findings unique to the parent population were identified: parents were motivated to exercise as they believed it made them a better parent; mothers found it difficult overcoming the ‘ethic of care’; both mothers and fathers experienced the emotions of guilt, although its impact differed between parent roles; parenthood resulted in a decline in confidence; and parents reported a lack of social support and self-regulatory capacity. These findings also reflect wider social determinants of health, in their racialised, gendered, and classed nature. To support parents in maintaining exercise uptake, the findings suggest that practitioners should promote reasons for exercise that align with parents’ core values to facilitate autonomous motivation.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Cycling, exercise adherence, parents, qualitative research, running, swimming
Depositing User:	Ms Raisa Burton
Date Deposited:	15 Sep 2021 09:53
Last Modified:	05 Jun 2024 11:27
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/17663
Related URLs:	http://www.else ... 792/description (Publisher URL)

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