Effects of Parent-child Co-participation in Physical Activity

NCT07236346 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: BU-SPBF-EY-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Literature reviews and studies of physical activity (PA) interventions suggest that active parental involvement is an important component of supporting PA levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Parents have also viewed these interventions as a valuable source of social support and motivation for themselves and their children with ASD; however, parents have reported a lack of PA interventions specifically involving parental involvement to increase PA levels in their children. To our knowledge, only a handful of PA studies in the literature have examined PA levels or fundamentals movement skills (FMS) in children with ASD and have included parental involvement. Overall, findings from previous studies have shown that PA interventions that include parental involvement successfully improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Given the potential benefits and the increasing interest in family-based interventions, supporting parent-child co-participation in PA may be a possible strategy to promote PA among children and parents. To date, studies on parent-child co-participation in PA have mostly focused on improving PA levels and FMS in children with ASD using web-based interventions such as social media, websites, and online systems. Furthermore, with the exception of two studies, the focus of these studies was on PA levels and not FMS in children with ASD. Furthermore, not all previous studies have created PA groups with and without parental involvement to explore whether parent-child co-participation truly makes a difference. We addressed these limitations in the current study and used a design that included a parent-child PA group, a child PA group, and a control group to examine both PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parent-child co-participation on PA levels and FMS in children with ASD.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD

Keywords

physical activity; parent; autism spectrum disorder; motor skills

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ)

  The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) was used to assess children's PA levels before and after the intervention. The LTEQ consists of three questions that seek information on the number of times children engage in mild, moderate, and strenuous intensity PA for at least 15 minutes in a typical week. It was applied to the participants in the intervention groups twice, before and after 8 weeks.

  8 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3)

  8 weeks

Study Arms (3)

parent-child group

EXPERIMENTAL

This group included parental involvement. Parents and children engaged in PA together three days a week, each session lasting approximately one hour.

Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activity

child group

EXPERIMENTAL

This group did not include parental involvement. Only children with ASD engaged in PA three days a week, each session lasting approximately 1 hour.

Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activity

control group

NO INTERVENTION

This group continued their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention.

Interventions

A parent-child co-participation in physical activity BEHAVIORAL

Parents in PCG-A engaged in PA with their children three days a week. All parents attended the sessions and engaged in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs with their children. Children in CG-B engaged in PA with their peers three days a week without parental involvement, engaging in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs. Both intervention groups were compared with a control group. We instructed the control group to maintain their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention and asked them to participate in a pre-test and post-test. A demonstration strategy was used to teach the activities. We provided immediate feedback to encourage and support children with ASD and their parents. We also chatted with the children and parents at the end of each daily physical activity session to evaluate the effectiveness of the session and prepare them for the next session.

child group; parent-child group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 4 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• willingness to participate in the study,
• being the primary guardian of a child with ASD between,
• having an ASD diagnosis confirmed GARS-2-TV,
• being between the ages of four and eleven,
• being able to walk independently.

You may not qualify if:

• those who do not attend at least one of the sessions of the training program,
• children with physical health problems (based on self-report and clinical diagnosis) will be excluded from the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Bayburt University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Work

Bayburt, Bayburt, 00690, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (1)

• 1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.

  BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Personal web site

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Motor Activity

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assoc. Prof. Dr

Model Details: The current study was a quasi-experimental study designed to determine the effectiveness of an 8-week PA intervention using two modes of delivery to improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. The quasi-experimental design is a frequently preferred research design, particularly in education research, where it is not possible to control all variables. A pre-test in the design helps determine the similarity of the groups before the intervention, while a post-test allows interpretation of the effects of the intervention on the participants.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 13, 2025
• First Posted: November 19, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: September 15, 2025
• Study Completion: October 1, 2025
• Last Updated: November 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)