SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2025
Association between child and youth physical activity and family functioning: a systematic review of observational studies.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pre-post changes in physiological, cognitive, and motivational outcomes following an active video game intervention in adolescents and adults: a pilot study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- 'WeekendGo!' A digital health intervention for promoting children's physical activity in the family environment: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere are numerous psychosocial and health benefits linked to physical activity; however, 80% of children and youth are not meeting the recommended guidelines. Genetics, socio-economic status and familial factors impact childhood movement behaviors. In particular, active families support well developed and resilient offspring. As the family unit is optimally placed during a critical time in development, it is pertinent to explore the relationship between family functioning and child and youth physical activity. PURPOSE: To synthesize and analyze the literature to determine the associations between general domains of family functioning (general family functioning, cohesion, communication, conflict, organization, family problem-solving ability, household chaos, and affective environment) and child and youth (children: aged five to 12, youth: aged 13 to 17) physical activity.
methodsLiterature searches across six databases were performed. INCLUSION: Studies that performed and presented a statistical analysis between direct measurements of child and youth physical activity and general domains of family functioning. EXCLUSION: Indirect measurements of family functioning (e.g., support and encouragement). The summary median effect sizes (Pearson r) and interquartile range [IQR] were calculated between child or youth physical activity and each family functioning domain.
resultsSearch results k = 12,999. Included articles k = 43. Child physical activity had a small median effect size and indeterminate association with general family functioning (r = 0.09; [IQR]: -0.06 to 0.09) and cohesion (r = 0.06; [IQR]: 0.05 to 0.22). Youth physical activity presented with small median effect sizes and significant positive associations with the domains of general family functioning (r = 0.04; [IQR]: 0.02 to 0.06), cohesion (r = 0.09; [IQR]: 0.07 to 0.14), communication (r = 0.17; [IQR]: 0.09 to 0.40), and a negative association with the domain of conflict (r = -0.09; [IQR]: -0.21 to 0.02). Family problem-solving ability, organization, household chaos, and affective environment were understudied across both age groups.
conclusionsA small effect size in the domains of cohesion, communication, and conflict highlights the association between child and youth physical activity and family functioning. These findings provide a new avenue for researchers, programmers, and policy writers to target to support child and youth physical activity.
trial registrationThis review is registered with The National Institute for Health and Care Research at The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). PROSPERO ID number is CRD42023454220.
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