Peer-reviewed article
Is having a child with special needs a barrier to physical activity? A mixed design study.
Kurşunel M, Akpınar Ö, Yanar Tunçel N, Akpınar S ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether having a child with special needs acts as a barrier to physical activity for parents, using a mixed-methods design with 212 parents. The research found that parents' perceived barriers to physical activity were associated with higher body mass index and care burden. Qualitative analysis identified four barriers: responsibilities, having a child with special needs, psychological state, and sports facility problems. The study concludes that qualitative methods are important for understanding these barriers alongside quantitative measures.
Key points
- Higher perceived barriers to physical activity were associated with increased body mass index (p < 0.05)
- Physical activity barriers correlated with higher care burden scores (p < 0.05)
- Regression analysis found no significant relationship between physical activity barriers and metabolic equivalent classification
- Qualitative data identified four key barriers: responsibilities, child's special needs, parental psychological state, and sports facility problems
- Mixed-methods approach revealed findings that quantitative methods alone might have missed
Limitations
This study focuses on parents of children with special needs rather than on child well-being outcomes directly. It does not evaluate an intervention or measure impacts on children's survival, development, protection or participation.
Abstract
Having special needs is considered a difficult situation in society, but perhaps only families experiencing this situation know how challenging it is to be the parent of a child with special needs. Since families plan their entire lives around their children's needs, they often neglect their own social lives and free time. The aim of this study is to investigate whether having a child with special needs constitutes a barrier to physical activity for parents, using a mixed methods approach. A total of 212 parents caring for individuals with special needs volunteered to participate in the study. The quantitative part of the study used a questionnaire to collect demographic information, as well as scales to measure perceived barriers to physical activity and care burden, and a shortened version of the international physical activity questionnaire. For the qualitative part of the study, a four-question interview form was used. It was observed that, as participants' scores for physical activity barriers increased, so did their body mass index and care burden scores (p < 0.05). According to the results of the regression analysis, the model of physical activity barriers and care burden status of parents of children with special needs according to the participants' metabolic equivalent classification was not significant (p > 0.05). However, the results of the qualitative data analysis revealed four barriers that parents indirectly associated with having a child with special needs hindering physical activity: responsibilities, having a child with special needs, psychological state and problems related to sports facilities. These results suggest that quantitative research methods alone may be insufficient for identifying factors hindering physical activity among individuals with special needs. Future studies may wish to conduct applied research projects on physical activity barriers among parents of children with special needs.