Maternal Beliefs and Parenting Practices Regarding Their Preschool Child's Television Viewing: An Exploration in a Sample of Low-Income Mexican-Origin Mothers.
OBJECTIVE
To explore maternal beliefs about television (TV) viewing and related parenting practices in low-income Mexican-origin mothers of preschoolers.


METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 low-income Mexican-origin mothers of preschoolers. Interviews were audio recorded and analyzed using a theoretically based thematic analytic approach.


RESULTS
Mothers described strong beliefs about the positive and negative impact of TV content. Mothers emphasized the educational value of specific programming. Content restrictions were common. Time restrictions were not clearly defined; however, many mothers preferred short versus long episodes of viewing. Mothers spoke positively about family viewing and the role of TV viewing in enabling mothers to accomplish household tasks.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings have implications for intervening in this population. Interventionists should consider the value mothers place on the educational role of TV viewing, the direct benefit to mothers of viewing time, the lack of clear time limits, and the common practice of family co-viewing.
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA darcy.thompson@ucdenver.edu.
Darcy A
DA
Thompson
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Sarah
S
Polk
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Charissa S L
CS
Cheah
University of Texas School of Public Health-Austin Regional Campus, Austin, TX, USA.
Elizabeth A
EA
Vandewater
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Susan L
SL
Johnson
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Marilyn Camacho
MC
Chrismer
University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jeanne M
JM
Tschann
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Latino; beliefs about TV viewing; obesity; parenting practices regarding television viewing; preschool; television viewing