https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-0904
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Maria Siwa, Anna Banik, Zofia Szczuka, Ewa Kulis, Monika Boberska, Dominika Wietrzykowska, Nina Knoll, Anita DeLongis, Bärbel Knäuper, Aleksandra Luszczynska, Provided and received positive and negative social control, relationship satisfaction, and sedentary behavior in parent-child dyads, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Volume 59, Issue 1, January 2025, kaae092, https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaae092
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Abstract
The close relationship processes and health model and the dyadic health influence model posit that relationship beliefs (eg, relationship satisfaction) and influence strategies (eg, provision and receipt of positive and negative social control) mediate health behavior change. However, evidence for such mediation in parent-child dyads is limited.
Two complementary mediation hypotheses were tested: (1) social control forms indirect relationships with sedentary behavior (SB), via relationship satisfaction acting as a mediator; and (2) relationship satisfaction forms indirect relationships with SB, with social control operating as a mediator.
Data from 247 parent-child dyads (9- to 15-year-old children) were analyzed using manifest mediation models. SB was measured with GT3X-BT accelerometers at Time 1 (T1; baseline) and Time 3 (T3; 8-month follow-up). Relationship satisfaction and social control were assessed at T1 and Time 2 (T2; 2-month follow-up). Path analysis models, controlling for baseline SB, were fit.
Received positive control (children, T1) was associated with higher relationship satisfaction in both children and parents (T2), which in turn were related to lower and higher parental SB at T3, respectively. Provided positive control (parents; T1) was related to higher SB (T3) in children. Relationship satisfaction among children (T1) predicted higher levels of received positive and negative control (children, T2).
Provided and received positive social control may form direct and indirect associations with SB in parent-child dyads. Future research may need to consider further subtypes of positive control, which may explain the divergent effects of this form of control on SB.
Lay Summary
This study examines how parent-child relationship satisfaction and parental social control relate to the sedentary behavior (SB) of parents and their children aged 9-15 years. Sedentary behaviors include sitting or reclining for long periods (eg, for work, study, relaxation, or play). Data from 247 parent-child pairs were analyzed over 8 months. The findings show that when children received positive social control from their parents (eg, making suggestions or giving compliments), their satisfaction with the relationship increased. This, in turn, was associated with parents being less sedentary, while children became more sedentary. Additionally, when parents reported using positive social control, their children’s sedentary time increased. These results highlight the complex ways in which social control and relationship satisfaction are connected to SB.
