The family setting can be an opportunistic environment for parents and children to engage in physical activity (PA) together; however, there is still much to learn from families about their participation in family PA interventions. The findings presented in this paper are from an analysis of exit interviews with families (parents and children) who participated in a randomized controlled trial which explored planning as a strategy to increase PA. A rigorous inductive and deductive coding reliability thematic analysis taking a constructive realist perspective was used to code the interviews and determine themes. The major themes were benefits to family PA, barriers to family PA, and perspectives on research participation. Families identified many benefits to family PA including bonding and enjoyment. Barriers to family PA included complex family schedules and family differences. Important concerns with accelerometers, as well as perspectives on planning as a strategy and secondary fitness measurements were shared by families with respect to their research participation. Parents’ awareness of their influence on their children’s PA was noteworthy in this study. Planning was also perceived by the majority of families as beneficial, despite also voicing ongoing challenges with logistics. These findings support researchers who have previously suggested leveraging family-based tools and supports for enhanced PA engagement and adherence. Participants’ perceptions of weight-related benefits and secondary fitness measures may have both distracted and detracted from family PA uptake and potential maintenance. Future research could benefit from family system approaches, targeted protocols and more seamless technology to better engage families.

Registered Trial: clinicaltrials.gov # NCT01882192

家庭环境可以是父母和孩子一起参与体育活动 (PA) 的机会主义环境；然而，在家庭参与家庭 PA 干预方面，仍有很多需要向家庭学习。本文提出的研究结果来自对参与随机对照试验的家庭（父母和儿童）的离职面谈分析，该试验探讨了将计划作为增加 PA 的策略。采用建设性现实主义观点的严格归纳和演绎编码可靠性主题分析用于对访谈进行编码并确定主题。主要主题是家庭 PA 的好处、家庭 PA 的障碍以及对研究参与的看法。家庭确定了家庭 PA 的许多好处，包括联系和享受。家庭 PA 的障碍包括复杂的家庭日程和家庭差异。家庭在参与研究时分享了对加速度计的重要关注，以及对作为战略和次要健康测量的规划的看法。在这项研究中，父母意识到他们对孩子的 PA 的影响是值得注意的。大多数家庭也认为规划是有益的，尽管他们也表达了物流方面的持续挑战。这些发现支持了之前建议利用基于家庭的工具和支持来增强 PA 参与度和依从性的研究人员。参与者对体重相关益处和次要健身措施的看法可能会分散和减损家庭 PA 的吸收和潜在的维护。

注册试验： clinicaltrials.gov #NCT01882192