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. 2025 Jul;51(4):e70119.
doi: 10.1111/cch.70119.

The Role of Parental Physical Literacy in Family Dynamics: A Systematic Scoping Review of Existing Evidence

Yuan Fang  1 , Zixin Wang  2 , Siyu Chen  2 , Hanxue Wu  1 , Doug H Cheung  2 , Borui Zhang  1 , Qianwen Liao  1 , Chen Zheng  1 , Fenghua Sun  1
Affiliations

The Role of Parental Physical Literacy in Family Dynamics: A Systematic Scoping Review of Existing Evidence

Yuan Fang et al. Child Care Health Dev. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Physical literacy (PL) is essential for a person's engagement to physical activity (PA) for life. Previous evidence revealed that parental PL played an important role in child's outcomes related to their PA experience.

Methods: To summarize the existing evidence of parental PL and its dynamics and influence in the family system, an extensive literature search of the EBSCOhost, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases was conducted to identify eligible studies.

Results: Notably, 18 studies were included in the final analysis, which were published between 2012 and 2024. Among these studies, a total of 3739 children (3-16 years old) and 2190 parents were involved. Extracted data showed that parental ethnicity and behavioural control, as well as family socio-economic status (SES) and accessible resources, were associated with parental PL. Furthermore, parental PL demonstrated a significant positive influence on child's PL and fitness level and parent-child co-PA levels. This is consistent in qualitative findings, that is, parents with middle-high SES valued children's sport participation, which could further foster their social skills and psychological capitals. Moreover, reviewed interventions exhibited a significant medium-large effect on increasing parental PL with high acceptability and feasibility.

Conclusion: Parental PL positively influences child's PL and fitness level and parent-child co-PA levels. Several existing theories may explain the dynamics and influence of parental PL in the family system. This comprehensive summary may add value for program design of health promotion in a home setting.

Summary: In the family system, parental physical literacy (PL) plays an important role in child's perception and practice of physical activity (PA). This scoping review systematically summarized the existing evidence of parental PL and its dynamics and influence in the family system. This review supports that parental PL had a significant positive influence on child's PL and their fitness level. Based on this study, research gaps and health messages are identified, which may inform researchers, stakeholder and policymakers for decision-making and future program design.

Keywords: children; family; influence; parental literacy; physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram: searching process for studies selection about parental physical literacy and its dynamics and impact in a family system. (a) Included databases of EBSCOhost are Academic Search Alumni Edition, Academic Search Ultimate, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, British Education Index, CINAHL with Full Text, Education Source Ultimate, ERIC, MEDLINE, Primary Search, SPORTDiscus with Full Text and Teacher Reference Center; (b) included databases of Web of Science are A&HCI, ESCI, CPCI‐SSH, CPCI‐S, SCI‐EXPANDED and SSCI; and (c) included publications of Scopus are both final published and accepted in press.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Involved theories and models to interpret the mechanism of dynamics and influence of parental PL in the family system.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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