Investigation of the Effect of Parental Physical Literacy and Attitudes Towards Physical Activity on the Physical Activity Participation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Individuals with ASD require support throughout every stage of their lives, and this support is usually provided by their parents. Parents make decisions on behalf of their children with ASD and guide them according to their needs. Among these needs, physical activity stands out as a key factor in helping children with ASD stay healthy, avoid secondary disorders, and engage in social interaction. Children’s participation in physical activity is also closely related to the decisions their parents make in this regardIn determining the study group, the convenience sampling method, which is a non-random sampling technique, was used, and 373 parents residing in Ankara who have children diagnosed with ASD were included in the study. The data collection tools employed were the ‘Perceived Physical Literacy Scale’, validated and tested for reliability in Turkish by Munusturlar and Yıldızer (2020), and the ‘Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Scale’, validated and tested in Turkish by Eskiler et al. (2016). In the analysis of the data, t-tests, ANOVA, regression, and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Significant differences were found between perceived income and educational status variables and parents’ attitudes toward and literacy in physical activity. However, no significant difference was observed based on gender. Furthermore, it was determined that parents’ physical literacy levels are a significant predictor of their attitudes toward physical activity.