How patterns of parenting practices relate to Chinese early adolescents’ physical activity: a latent profile analysis of dyad data

Research on physical activity parenting practices (PAPP) often overlooks behavioural patterns and relies solely on parental reports. This study aims to identify distinct PAPP profiles using parent–adolescent dyad data and examine their associations with adolescents' physical activity levels. Data were collected from 373 Chinese parents-adolescents dyads using self-administered questionnaires to assess nine types of PAPP and adolescents' physical activity levels. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify PAPP patterns from both parent and adolescent reports. The influence of PAPP profiles on adolescents' physical activity levels was analysed using covariate analysis with the Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method, adjusting for parents' gender and educational levels, and adolescents' gender, only-child status, and grade level. Three similar latent profiles were identified from the dyad data, characterised as controlling, supportive, and neglectful. An additional latent profile, labelled as neutral, was exclusively identified in the parent-reported data. In addition, more parents were grouped into the supportive and neglectful profiles in adolescent reports than the parent reports. Compared to the supportive profile, the neglectful profile showed significant declines in adolescents' physical activity levels based on adolescent reports. The findings underscore the importance of raising Chinese parents' awareness about the risks of adolescents' physical inactivity and adopting the supportive combination of PAPP. Moreover, the profile discrepancies generated from the dyad data highlight the necessity of incorporating PAPP perceptions from both parent and adolescents in future studies.