Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep-Oct;18(7):820-827.
doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2018.05.002. Epub 2018 May 17.

Screen-Related Parenting Practices in Low-Income Mexican American Families

Darcy A Thompson  1 , Sarah J Schmiege  2 , Susan L Johnson  3 , Elizabeth A Vandewater  4 , Richard E Boles  3 , Ruth E Zambrana  5 , Jerusha Lev  6 , Jeanne M Tschann  7
Affiliations

Screen-Related Parenting Practices in Low-Income Mexican American Families

Darcy A Thompson et al. Acad Pediatr. 2018 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: To (1) examine whether the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model predicts maternal screen-related parenting practices and (2) evaluate the relationship of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)-recommended parenting practices with child television (TV) use behaviors.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 312 Spanish-speaking and/or English-speaking female primary caregivers of Mexican descent with a child 3 to 5 years of age were recruited from safety-net pediatric clinics. Participants completed a phone interview and screen media diary. Measures included maternal screen-related beliefs, self-efficacy, parenting practices (time restriction, TV in the child's bedroom, allowing viewing while eating meals and while eating snacks), and child viewing behaviors (amount of TV viewing, frequency of eating while viewing). Two path analytic models were estimated.

Results: Positive general beliefs about TV viewing and positive functional beliefs were negatively associated with maternal self-efficacy to restrict TV time (β = -0.14, P < .05; β = -0.27, P < .001). Greater self-efficacy to restrict time was associated with more maternal restriction of time (β = 0.29, P < .001). Greater positive functional beliefs were associated with less self-efficacy to restrict TV viewing with snacks (odds ratio = 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-0.81). High self-efficacy to restrict viewing with snacks was associated with less allowing of viewing while snacking (β = -0.16, P < .01). Time restriction, TV in the child's bedroom, and allowing viewing while snacking were associated with child TV viewing behaviors.

Conclusions: Providers should consider maternal beliefs, including beliefs regarding the functional use of screens, and self-efficacy to engage in AAP-recommended parenting practices, when counseling on screen use in this population.

Keywords: Latino; preschool; television.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Analytic model of information, motivation, behavioral skills, parenting practices and child TV viewing
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills Model of restriction of time and TV in the child’s bedroom and child screen use.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills Model of allowing viewing with meals and snacks and child screen use.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Council on Communications and Media. Media and Young Minds. Pediatrics 2016;138:e20162591. - PubMed
    1. Cespedes EM, Gillman MW, Kleinman K, Rifas-Shiman SL, Redline S, Taveras EM. Television viewing, bedroom television, and sleep duration from infancy to mid-childhood. Pediatrics 2014;133:e1163–1171. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barr-Anderson DJ, Larson NI, Nelson MC, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M. Does television viewing predict dietary intake five years later in high school students and young adults? Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2009;6:7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Robinson TN. Reducing children’s television viewing to prevent obesity: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1999;282:1561–1567. - PubMed
    1. Rideout V, Saphir M. Zero to Eight: Children’s media use in America 2013. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media 2013.

Publication types