Benefits and Barriers to Engaging in a Family Physical Activity Intervention: A Qualitative Analysis of Exit Interviews

The family setting can be an opportunistic environment for parents and children to engage in physical activity (PA) together; however, there is still much to learn from families about their participation in family PA interventions. The findings presented in this paper are from an analysis of exit interviews with families (parents and children) who participated in a randomized controlled trial which explored planning as a strategy to increase PA. A rigorous inductive and deductive coding reliability thematic analysis taking a constructive realist perspective was used to code the interviews and determine themes. The major themes were benefits to family PA, barriers to family PA, and perspectives on research participation. Families identified many benefits to family PA including bonding and enjoyment. Barriers to family PA included complex family schedules and family differences. Important concerns with accelerometers, as well as perspectives on planning as a strategy and secondary fitness measurements were shared by families with respect to their research participation. Parents’ awareness of their influence on their children’s PA was noteworthy in this study. Planning was also perceived by the majority of families as beneficial, despite also voicing ongoing challenges with logistics. These findings support researchers who have previously suggested leveraging family-based tools and supports for enhanced PA engagement and adherence. Participants’ perceptions of weight-related benefits and secondary fitness measures may have both distracted and detracted from family PA uptake and potential maintenance. Future research could benefit from family system approaches, targeted protocols and more seamless technology to better engage families.