Exploring the factors of physical activity behaviour in UK children and their inter-relationships using a multidisciplinary approach: A concept mapping study

It is still unknown which factors of physical activity behaviour (PAB) may be effective and how they may influence PAB in UK children. The objective of the current study was to generate a conceptual analysis of the factors of PAB in UK children (5-12 years) using the input of researchers in the field of physical activity (PA experts; PAE) and researchers in other fields (non-PA experts; non-PAE). The concept mapping approach was used to identify potential (new) factors of PAB in children, assess their importance based on rating of potential modifiability and effect, and generate a concept map depicting the associations between them. In the first (brainstorming) stage (n=32 experts) yielded 93 factors, including 14 (new) not identified in previous reviews. In the second (rating and sorting) stage (n=26 experts), 32 factors were rated as important and four-cluster concept map was generated including themes related to Society/community, Home/social setting, Personal/social setting, and Psychological/emotional factors. Two additional concept maps were generated for PAE and non-PAE. From expert opinion, we identified new factors of PAB that warrant further research and we highlight the need to consider the interaction between intrapersonal and external factors when designing interventions to promote PA in UK children.

The data has been downloaded from Ariadne (minds21.org) and includes the raw data and the analysed data (clustering and rating data). Participant information has been removed from the data files and replaced with participant numbers.