(In)Congruences in parent-adolescent reports of physical activity parenting practices: associations with adolescent physical activity

Informant discrepancies in physical activity parenting practices (PAPP) are prevalent, but their effect on adolescent physical activity (PA) remains underexplored. This study aims to examine the relationship between the (in)congruence in the parent-adolescent reports of PAPP and adolescent physical activity (PA). Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect perceptions on nine types of PAPP and adolescents’ PA levels from 373 Chinese parent-adolescent dyads. Multiple linear regression, polynomial regression, and Response Surface Analysis were employed to explore the relationship between parent-adolescent (in)congruence in PAPP reports and adolescent physical activity. Over half of the dyads exhibited incongruence in their PAPP reports, with parents generally reporting higher PAPP scores compared to adolescents. Neither parent-reported nor adolescent-reported punishment, pressuring, and restriction were significantly associated adolescent PA. In contrast, adolescent-reported disengagement, expectation, facilitation, monitoring, non-directive support, and autonomy support demonstrated stronger significant associations with their PA levels compared to parent-reported measures. Congruence in reporting expectation, facilitation, monitoring, non-directive support, and autonomy support was positively associated with adolescent PA, while incongruence in these practices showed inverse associations. In addition, adolescents’ gender-specific analyses demonstrated different informant effects on disengagement, monitoring, and non-directive support. Parent-adolescent (in)congruences on positive PAPP rather than negative PAPP showed significant relationships with adolescents’ PA levels, highlighting the importance of aligning parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions on positive PAPP to promote adolescent PA. Moreover, adolescent girls appear to be more sensitive to PAPP involving parents’ presence than boys.