Peer-reviewed article
Physical Activities Promote Resilience of Children in Single-Mother Families: Results from A-CHILD Study.
Yamaoka Y, Tani Y, Kawahara T, Maeda Y, Fujiwara T ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether physical activity helps children from single-mother families develop resilience in Japan. Using data from over 3,000 children followed from 1st to 6th grade, researchers found that children in single-mother families participated less in physical activities and had lower resilience scores. For boys, physical activity duration explained most of the link between having a single mother and lower resilience, suggesting that increasing physical activity opportunities could strengthen resilience in these children.
Key points
- Single-mother families represented 7.2% of the study sample in 1st grade
- Children in single-mother families showed lower participation in physical activities in 2nd grade
- These children had lower resilience scores by 6th grade, as measured by the Children's Resilient Coping Scale
- Physical activity duration mediated 84% of the effect of single motherhood on resilience for boys
- The mediating effect of physical activity was not found for girls
Limitations
The study focuses only on children in Japan and cannot be generalized to other cultural contexts. The study did not examine mechanisms for why physical activity effects differed by gender, and cannot determine causation from this observational design.
Abstract
Objectives Children from single-mother families often face adverse health and developmental outcomes. However, limited research exists on the potential effectiveness of support systems in fostering resilience among these children. This study aimed to examine the effects of physical activity on the resilience of children in single-mother families. Methods This study used longitudinal data from the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study in Japan (N = 3076). Single motherhood status was assessed at baseline in 2015 (when the children were in 1st grade). Subsequently, the frequency of children's engagement in physical activity was evaluated in 2016 (2nd grade). The resilience of children was assessed in 2020 (in 6th grade) using the Children's Resilient Coping Scale (CRCS). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating effects of physical activity on child resilience. Results Single-mother families constituted 7.2% of study samples in 1st grade. In the 2nd grade, the children exhibited lower participation in physical activities, which subsequently showed lower resilience scores by the time they reached 6th grade. The duration of physical activity mediated the effect of single-mother families on resilience only for boys (84% of total effect). Conclusions for practice The relationship between single motherhood and children's lower resilience was found to be mediated by the duration of children's physical activity, specifically among boys attending elementary school in Japan. Enhancing opportunities for physical activities among children from single-mother families could prove effective in enhancing their resilience levels.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Enhanced engagement in physical activities
- Population
- Children in single-mother families followed from 1st to 6th grade in Japan (N=3,076; 7.2% in single-mother families)
Key finding
Children in single-mother families had lower physical activity participation in 2nd grade