Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 16, 2023
Parental information needs and intervention preferences for preventing multiple lifestyle risk behaviours among adolescents: A cross-sectional survey among parents
ABSTRACT
Background:
Parents play an influential role in the health behaviours of their children, such as their physical activity, dietary intake, sleep, screen time and substance use. However, further research is needed to inform the development of more effective and engaging parent-based interventions targeting adolescent risk behaviours.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess parents' knowledge about adolescent risk behaviours, barriers and facilitators to engaging in healthy behaviours, and preferences for a parent-based prevention intervention.
Methods:
An anonymous online survey was conducted from June to August 2022. Eligible participants were parents of children aged 11 to 18 years, currently residing in Australia. The survey assessed parents’ knowledge (perceived and actual) about national health guidelines for youth, parent and adolescent engagement in health behaviours; parenting style and attitudes; barriers/facilitators to engaging in healthy behaviours; and delivery and component preferences for a parent-based preventive intervention. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were conducted to analyse the data.
Results:
A total of 179 eligible participants completed the survey. The mean age of parents was 42.22 years (SD=7.0) and 63.1% were female. Parent-reported sleep duration was high for both parents (M=8.31 hours, SD=1.00) and adolescents (M=9.18; SD=0.94). However, the proportion of parents who reported that their child met national recommendations for vegetable intake (3.4%), physical activity (3.4%) and weekend recreational screen time was very low (5.4%). Overall, parents’ perceived knowledge of health guidelines was moderate, ranging from 50.6% for screen time to 72.8% for sleep guidelines (for 5–13-year-olds). Actual knowledge was lowest for vegetable intake and physical activity, with only 44.4% and 41.9% of parents reporting the correct guidelines for these behaviours, respectively. Key issues of concerns reported by parents were excessive use of technology, mental health, e-cigarette use, and negative peer relationships. The top-rated delivery method for a parent-based intervention was via a website (endorsed by 41.1% of parents). The highest rated intervention component was opportunities for goal setting (70.7% rated very/extremely important), and other important program features were ease of use (72.9%), paced learning (62.7%) and appropriate program length (58.8%).
Conclusions:
Findings suggest that such interventions should be brief and web-based, and aim to increase parental knowledge of health guidelines, provide opportunities for skill building, such as goal setting, and include effective behaviour change techniques such as motivational interviewing and social support. This study will inform the development of future parent-based preventive interventions to improve multiple lifestyle risk behaviours among adolescents. Clinical Trial: n/a
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