Understanding parental physical activity support in parents of children with developmental disabilities across two different countries.
Culture shapes how much parents back physical activity—boost attitude and intention first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ku et al. (2022) asked parents in the United States and South Korea how much they support physical activity for their children with developmental disabilities.
They used an online survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Parents answered questions about attitude, intention, and support.
What they found
American parents reported higher support for kids’ physical activity than South Korean parents.
Parents who saw activity as good and who planned to help were the most supportive in both countries.
How this fits with other research
Acar et al. (2021) reviewed 24 studies and found that most early-intervention papers leave parents on the sidelines, especially in Asian cultures. The new survey shows the same pattern: Korean parents score lower on support.
Gur et al. (2020) surveyed Arab and Jewish caregivers in Israel and also saw culture-linked service gaps. Together these studies say: check cultural background before you assume parents will jump into activity programs.
Westendorp et al. (2014) asked older adults with intellectual disability why they skip exercise. They cited low confidence and few choices. Byungmo’s work hints that parents may pass similar doubts to their kids, so tackle both generations.
Why it matters
If you write a bike-riding or swim goal, first ask where the family is from. Korean parents may need extra attitude shifts and clear activity choices. Build intention with short demos, parent praise, and local options they can picture. A five-minute values chat can raise their TPB score more than handing out a generic flyer.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: It remains unclear if there is a difference between parental physical activity (PA) support in parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) and parental PA support in parents of children without DDs across countries. AIMS: The purposes of the current study were to examine parental PA support in parents of children with and without DDs from the United States and South Korea and to examine their parental PA support mechanism based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: An online survey was used to measure demographic information, parental PA support, and four constructs of TPB in parents with and without DDs in the two countries (n = 277). One-way analysis of variance was used to compare parental PA support and the TPB constructs among the participants. Two separate path analyses were performed to examine associations between the TPB constructs and parental PA support in American parents of children with and without disabilities and South Korean parents of children with and without disabilities. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Parental PA support was significantly higher in American parents of children with DDs than in South Korean parents of children with DDs. Intention was significantly associated with parental PA support, and attitude was the strongest predictor for intention in both pathway models. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The difference in parental PA support between American parents of children with DDs and South Korean parents of children with DDs may exist. TPB-based intervention may be necessary in order to increase low parental PA support in South Korean parents of children with DDs.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104140