Validity of Items Assessing Self-Reported Number of Breaks in Sitting Time among Children and Adolescents

Veerle Van Oeckel, Benedicte Deforche, Nicola D. Ridgers, Elling Bere and Maïté Verloigne
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Veerle Van Oeckel: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Benedicte Deforche: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Nicola D. Ridgers: Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC 3125, Australia
Elling Bere: Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, Faculty of Sport, Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway
Maïté Verloigne: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-8

Abstract: Background : Sedentary behaviour guidelines recommend that individuals should regularly break up sitting time. Accurately monitoring such breaks is needed to inform guidelines concerning how regularly to break up sitting time and to evaluate intervention effects. We investigated the concurrent validity of three “UP4FUN child questionnaire” items assessing the number of breaks in sitting time among children and adolescents. Methods : Fifty-seven children and adolescents self-reported number of breaks from sitting taken at school, while watching TV, and during other screen time activities. Participants also wore an activPAL monitor (PAL Technologies, Glasgow, UK) to objectively assess the number of sitting time breaks (frequency/hour) during the school period and the school-free period (which was divided in the periods “after school” and “during the evening”). Concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman rank correlations. Results : Self-reported number of breaks/hour at school showed good concurrent validity (ρ = 0.676). Results were moderate to good for self-reported number of breaks/hour while watching TV (ρ range for different periods: 0.482 to 0.536) and moderate for self-reported number of breaks/hour in total screen time (ρ range for different periods: 0.377 to 0.468). Poor concurrent validity was found for self-reported number of breaks/hour during other screen time activities (ρ range for different periods: 0.157 to 0.274). Conclusions: Only the questionnaire items about number of breaks at school and while watching TV appear to be acceptable for further use in research focussing on breaks in prolonged sitting among children and adolescents.

Keywords: child; adolescent; sedentary behaviour; activPAL; surveys and questionnaires; psychometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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