Childhood temperament predictors of adolescent physical activity

Janssen et al. BMC Public Health (2017) 17:8 DOI 10.1186/s12889-016-3998-5 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Childhood temperament predictors of adolescent physical activity James A Janssen1*, Jacek Kolacz2, Lilly Shanahan3, Meghan J. Gangel4, Susan D. Calkins5, Susan P. Keane4 and Laurie Wideman1 Abstract Background: Physical inactivity is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Many patterns of physical activity involvement are established early in life. To date, the role of easily identifiable early-life individual predictors of PA, such as childhood temperament, remains relatively unexplored. Here, we tested whether childhood temperamental activity level, high intensity pleasure, low intensity pleasure, and surgency predicted engagement in physical activity (PA) patterns 11 years later in adolescence. Methods: Data came from a longitudinal community study (N = 206 participants, 53% females, 70% Caucasian). Parents reported their children’s temperamental characteristics using the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) when children were 4 & 5 years old. Approximately 11 years later, adolescents completed self-reports of PA using the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Ordered logistic regression, ordinary least squares linear regression, and Zero-inflated Poisson regression models were used to predict adolescent PA from childhood temperament. Race, socioeconomic status, and adolescent body mass index were used as covariates. Results: Males with greater childhood temperamental activity level engaged in greater adolescent PA volume (B = .42, SE = .13) and a 1 SD difference in childhood temperamental activity level predicted 29.7% more strenuous adolescent PA per week. Males’ high intensity pleasure predicted higher adolescent PA volume (B = .28, SE = .12). Males’ surgency positively predicted more frequent PA activity (B = .47, SE = .23, OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.02, 2.54) and PA volume (B = .31, SE = .12). No predictions from females’ childhood temperament to later PA engagement were identified. Conclusions: Childhood temperament may influence the formation of later PA habits, particularly in males. Boys with high temperamental activity level, high intensity pleasure, and surgency may directly seek out pastimes that involve PA. Indirectly, temperament may also influence caregivers’ perceptions of optimal activity choices for children. Understanding how temperament influences the development of PA patterns has the potential to inform efforts aimed at promoting long-term PA engagement and physical health. Keywords: Temperament, Physical activity, Childhood, Adolescence, Longitudinal * Correspondence: 1 Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Janssen et al. BMC Public Health (2017) 17:8 Page 2 of 11 Background The prevalence of chronic diseases linked to physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors—such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes—continues to rise. And, these diseases have their onsets at increasingly younger ages [1–5]. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, including physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition have been implicated as key players in the development of chronic disease [4, 5]. Physical inactivity in particular is the fourth-leading cause of mortality worldwide [6]. Characteristic patterns of physical activity (PA) are typically established during the early life course and remain relatively stable over time [7–10]. Therefore, the identification of predictors of PA engagement during the early lifespan is crucial, and could aid in the development of successful strategies aimed at increasing PA levels, and, ultimately, minimizing chronic disease risk. Previous research has established that age, race, socioeconomic status, and a range of sociocultural factors predict youth engagement in PA [11–16]. Theoretical frameworks in the developmental sciences and child development literature also support the idea that children’s individual characteristics that are primarily based within the person—such as their temperament—shape their developmental contexts in important ways, including the activities that they engage in [e.g., 17, 18]. However, childhood temperament remains relatively unexplored as a predictor of PA. Yet, early within-person factors such as temperament likely play an important role in long-term patterns of PA engagement given that patterns of physical activity are often carried forward into adulthood [8–10]—despite frequent changes in social contexts (e.g., changes in friends) and physical environments (e.g., moving to different schools or places). Here we examine long-term predictions from childhood temperament to adolescent PA in an effort to better understand childhood temperament as one potential source of continuity, or “tracking,” of PA despite the many changing social and physical contexts that children encounter during the early lifespan. Temperament refers to children’s inter-individual differences in physiological, behavioral, and emotional reactivity and self-regulation that are reflected in the speed/intensity of responses to stimuli, and recovery from such responses. These individual differences are relatively stable throughout development and are typically expressed across contexts [19]. Temperamental differences can be observed beginning early in life, likely have biological bases, and create a foundation for shaping personality and behavior into adolescence and adulthood [20]. Temperament reflects generalized tendencies [21] and is therefore distinct from situational motivation (e.g., exercising to build muscle or lose weight) and abilities (e.g., hand-eye coordination that is needed in many sports). Temperament is conceptualized along a variety of dimensions. Here we focus on four dimensions of temperament with potential to influence PA in youth. A summary of these dimensions and example items to measure them can be found in Table 1. First, temperamental activity level (TAL) refers to a child’s gross level of activity and includes both rate and extent of locomotion during activities of daily living (e.g., a tendency to run versus to walk). Second, high intensity pleasure (HIP) is a dimension that refers to the amount of pleasure or enjoyment that children e (...truncated)