Validity and reliability of the HomeSPACE-II instrument to assess the influence of the home physical environment on children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour

The home physical environment has an important influence on children’s physical activity levels and time spent in sedentary behaviours. The aim of this study was to validate the HomeSPACE-II instrument for use in two-storey homes, to measure physical environmental factors that influence children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviours within the home. Parents (n = 31) with at least one child aged 9–13 years completed the instrument independently alongside a criterion-trained researcher, then one week later alone, to assess validity and reliability, respectively. Parents were mostly female (87.1%) and university educated (61.3%) with a mean age of 41.68 ± 4 years, while houses were mostly semi-detached or terraced (61.3%) with two parents (87.1%). Intra-class correlation coefficients, Pearson correlation coefficients and Kappa statistics revealed that most items, outside of accessibility and size measures, had strong reliability and validity (94% having ICC > 0.60 and 97% having r > 0.80). Excluding physical activity equipment, accessibility items with lower reliability and validity had low between-subject variation. The HomeSPACE-II instrument covers a wide range of parameters within the home and demonstrated strong validity and reliability, suggesting it is a useful tool for measuring physical factors that influence children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour within the home