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Table 1 Home, social and neighborhood environment factors reported by mothers at baseline (T1)

From: Maternal efficacy and sedentary behavior rules predict child obesity resilience

Measures

Survey items

Scale and range

Descriptives/scale reliability

Home environment

  

Maternal efficacy for child doing physical activity (10 items)

I think my child could be physically active: ‘no matter how busy his/her day is, ‘no matter how tired he/she may feel’, ‘even if it is hot or cold outside’, ‘even if he/she has a lot of homework’, ‘after school even if he/she could watch TV or play video games instead’, ‘even if he/she had to stay at home’, ‘even when he/she would rather be doing something else’, ‘even if his/her friends didn’t want him/her to’, ‘after school even if his/her friends wanted him/her to do something else’, ‘at least 3 times a week for the next 2 weeks’ [25]

4 point: 1 = not at all confident, 4 = very confident; range: 10-40

Mean: 31.1 ± 4.7; Cronbach’s alpha (α) = 0.90

Test-retest: κ = 0.46-0.64

Maternal self-efficacy for preventing child from engaging in sedentary behaviors (3 items)

How confident are you that you could do the following over the next year? ‘Say no to my child’s demands to watch TV/videos/DVD’, ‘Say no to my child’s requests to play on the computer’, ‘Get my child to do something physically active, like dancing, skipping, playing outside, when they want to play on the computer or watch TV’

5 point: 1 = not at all confident, 5 = extremely confident; range: 3-15

Mean: 12.0 ± 2.7; α = 0.82

Test-retest: κ = 0.46-0.55

Maternal self-efficacy for child eating healthily (6 items)

How confident are you that you could do the following over the next year? ‘Get my child to eat enough fruit (this does not include fruit juice)’, ‘Get my child to eat enough vegetables (this does not include potato or potato chips)’, ‘Get my child to drink plain water (with no flavors added)’, ‘Say no to my child’s requests for soft-drinks, cordials or other sweetened drinks’, ‘Say no to my child’s requests for potato chips/Twisties/Cheezels or similar foods’, ‘Say no to my child’s requests for sweet snacks, confectionary, lollies or ice-cream’

5 point: 1 = not at all confident, 5 = extremely confident; range: 6-30

Mean: 23.8 ± 4.4; α = 0.79

Test-retest: κ = 0.47-0.61

Parental support for physical activity (4 items)

How often do the following people provide support for your child’s participation in physical activity? (e.g. take him/her to training, provide money for participation, buy sports clothing/equipment): ‘You’, ‘Child’s co-carer’ (these 2 scores were subsequently summed to indicate parental support). How often do each of the following people praise your child for participating in physical activity? (e.g. say positive things to him/her, seem happy that he/she does it) : ‘You’, ‘Child’s co-carer’ (these 2 scores were subsequently summed to indicate parental praise; parental support and parental praise scales were then summed to provide an indicator of overall parental support/praise, termed ‘parental support for physical activity’) [26]

1 = don’t know/doesn’t apply, 2 = never, 3 = less than once per week, 4 = 1-2 times per week, 5 = 3-4 times per week, 6 = 5-6 times per week, 7 = daily (subsequently recoded into times/week scores); range: 0-28

Mean: 12.9 ± 6.5; α = 0.74

Test-retest: ICC = 0.81-0.90 [27]

Importance of doing physical activity as a family (1 item)

How important is it (to you) that the family does sport or other physical activity together (e.g. goes for walks)?

1 = not really important, 2 = quite important, 3 = very important

Distribution: ‘not really important’ (11.5 %), ‘quite important’ (50.5 %), ‘very important’ (38.0 %)

Test-retest: κ = 0.64

Food as reward for good behavior (2 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘I offer sweets (e.g. lollies, ice cream, cake, pastries, sweet biscuits) to my child as a reward for good behavior’, ‘I offer my child his/her favorite foods in exchange for good behavior’ [28]

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 2-10

Mean: 4.3 ± 1.8; α = 0.78

Test-retest: κ = 0.50-0.55

Sedentary behaviors as reward for good behavior (2 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘I let my child watch TV as a reward for good behavior’, ‘I let my child play computer/video games in exchange for good behavior’ [28]

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 2-10

Mean: 4.3 ± 2.0; α = 0.86

Test-retest: κ = 0.46-0.55

Rules to limit sedentary behaviors (5 items)

‘My child is not allowed to watch TV/play PlayStation©/Nintendo© until his/her homework is done’, ‘During meal times, I do not allow the TV to be on’, ‘My child must be supervised when watching TV’, ‘My child must be supervised on the Internet or when playing PlayStation©/Nintendo©’, ‘I limit the amount of time my child spends watching TV/using the computer (internet and games)’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range 5-25

Mean: 17.9 ± 3.3; α = 0.69

Test–retest: items 1–4, ICC = 0 · 77-0 · 90; item 5, κ = 0.51

Feelings about food enjoyment (1 item)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘It gives me pleasure to give my children food they enjoy’ [28]

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 1-5

Mean: 3.9 ± 0.8

Test-retest: κ = 0.47

Beliefs about food enjoyment (1 item)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘I believe in letting children enjoy food treats/rewards’ [28]

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 1-5

Mean: 3.4 ± 0.9

Test-retest: κ = 0.48

Home access to physical activity equipment (11 items)

Which of the following do you have outside of your home or in your yard? ‘swimming pool/spa’, ‘trampoline’, ‘basketball ring’

0 = no, 1 = yes; range: 1-11

Mean: 7.8 ± 1.9

Does your child have access to the following things at home? ‘balls’, ‘bats/racquets/golf clubs’, ‘bikes’, ‘home gym equipment’, ‘rollerblades’, ‘skateboard’, ‘skipping rope’, ‘scooter’

Test-retest: ≥ 89 % agreement [27]

Home access to equipment for sedentary behavior (6 items)

Does your child have access to the following things at home? ‘free to air TV’, ‘pay TV’, ‘video/DVD player’, ‘PlayStation©/Nintendo©/Gameboy©/X-box©’, ‘computer’, ‘internet’

0 = no, 1 = yes; range: 0-6

Mean: 4.1 ± 1.2

Test-retest: ≥ 91 % agreement [27]

Child has a television in their bedroom (1 item)

Does your child have a TV in his/her bedroom?

0 = no, 1 = yes

Distribution: ‘no’ (84.5 %), ‘yes’ (15.5 %)

Test-retest: ≥ 91 % agreement [29]

Social environment

  

Social norms for physical activity (3 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘Lots of kids we know play sport’, ‘Lots of kids we know walk or cycle to school’, ‘Lots of kids we know play outdoors’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 3-15

Mean: 11.6 ± 1.9; α = 0.57

Test-retest: 62-73 % agreement

Social norms for unhealthy eating (2 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘Lots of kids we know eat fast food often’, ‘Lots of kids we know drink soft drink often’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 2-10

Mean: 6.6 ± 1.9; α = 0.80

Test-retest: κ = 0.53-0.57

Social norms for eating fruit (1 item)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘At my child’s school, lots of kids eat fruit often’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 1-5

Mean: 3.9 ± 0.8

Test-retest: κ = 0.51

Neighborhood environment (subjective)

  

Mothers’ perception of neighborhood physical activity environment (1 item)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following: ‘The neighborhood I live in has lots of good places for my child to play and be active’ [30]

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 1-5

Mean: 3.7 ± 1.0

Test-retest: κ = 0.54 [30]

Neighborhood child-friendliness/knowledge/liking (2 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following? ‘My child knows our local area very well’, ‘My child likes living in our local area’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 2-10

Mean: 8.3 ± 1.4; α = 0.60

Test-retest: 73-80 % agreement

Neighborhood social network (3 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following? ‘My child often visits other children and families in my area’, ‘My child’s friends live too far away from home to see on a regular basis’, ‘There are not many other children nearby for my child to play or hang around with’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree (the latter 2 items were reverse coded); range: 3-15

Mean: 11.2 ± 2.6; α = 0.76

Test-retest: 58-58 % agreement

Neighborhood personal safety (4 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about your local neighborhood? ‘My neighborhood is safe for children’, ‘My neighborhood is safe for my child to walk/cycle around in the daytime’, ‘My child would be safe walking home from a bus or train stop’, ‘Concerns about stranger danger prevent my child from going outside in my local area’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree (the latter item was reverse coded); range: 4-20

Mean: 13.5 ± 3.2; α = 0.80

Test-retest: 51-77 % agreement

Neighborhood road safety (4 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about your local neighborhood? ‘There are major barriers to walking/cycling that make it hard for my child to get from place to place (e.g. freeways, major roads)’, ‘There are no lights/crossings/pedestrian overpasses for my child to use’, ‘My child would have to cross several roads to get to areas where he/she can play or hang out’, ‘My child would have to cross a busy road/major highway to get to areas where he/she can play or hang out’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree (all items reverse coded); range: 4-20

Mean: 12.4 ± 3.7; α = 0.79

Test-retest: κ = 0.53-0.59

Neighborhood availability and quality of healthy foods (3 items)

How much do you agree or disagree with the following? ‘A large selection of fruit and vegetables are available in my neighborhood’, ‘The fresh fruit and vegetables in my neighborhood are of high quality’, ‘A large selection of low-fat products are available in my neighborhood’

5 point: 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree; range: 3-15

Mean: 11.4 ± 2.4; α = 0.83

Test-retest: κ = 0.65-0.71

Neighborhood environment (objective) – derived from Geographic Information System data

  

Availability of a fast food outlet

Fast food outlet within 2000 m walking distance from participant’s home

0 = none, 1 = one or more

Distribution: ‘none’ (61.0 %), ‘one or more’ (39.0 %)

Availability of a supermarket

Supermarket within 2000 m walking distance from participant’s home

0 = none, 1 = one or more

Distribution: ‘none’ (26.0 %), ‘one or more’ (74.0 %)

Availability of a green grocer

Green grocer within 2000 m walking distance from participant’s home

0 = none, 1 = one or more

Distribution: ‘none’ (49.0 %), ‘one or more’ (51.0 %)

Availability of a swimming pool

Swimming pool within 2000 m walking distance from participant’s home

0 = none, 1 = one or more

Distribution: ‘none’ (48.0 %), ‘one or more’ (52.0 %)

Availability of a playground

Playground within 800 m walking distance from participant’s home

0 = none, 1 = one or more

Distribution: ‘none’ (43.0 %), ‘one or more’ (57.0 %)