Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Aug 10, 2018 - Oct 5, 2018
Date Accepted: Dec 9, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
“If you let them, they will be on it 24-hours a dayâ€: a qualitative study conducted in the United States exploring Brazilian immigrant mothers’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to screen time behaviors of their preschool-aged children
ABSTRACT
Background:
The increasing prevalence of excessive screen time (ST) among children is a growing public health concern due evidence linking this to increased risk of overweight and obesity among children.
Objective:
To explore the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of Brazilian-born immigrant mothers’ living in the United States (US) related to their preschool-aged children’s ST.
Methods:
Qualitative study consisting of seven focus group discussions (FGDs)
Methods:
Qualitative study consisting of seven focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted with Brazilian immigrant mothers living in the US. All FGDs were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed verbatim. The Portuguese transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results:
In total, 37 women participated in the FGDs. Analyses revealed that although most mothers expressed concerns for their children’s ST, nearly all viewed ST as an acceptable part of children’s daily lives. Furthermore, mothers perceived that ST has more benefits than disadvantages. Mothers’ positive beliefs about (e.g., educational purposes, entertainment, etc.) and perceived functional benefits of ST (e.g., ability to keep children occupied so tasks can be completed, facilitation of communication with family outside the US, etc.) contributed to their acceptance of ST for their young children. Nevertheless, most mothers spoke of needing to balance their children’s ST with other activities. Mothers reported using several parenting practices including monitoring time and content, setting limits and having rules, and prompting their children to participate in other activities to manage ST.
Conclusions:
The present study provides new information on the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of Brazilian immigrant mothers living in the US related to their preschool-aged children’s ST. Study findings revealed several potentially modifiable maternal beliefs and parenting practices that may provide important targets for parenting- and family-based interventions aimed at promoting adequate preschool-age children’s ST. Clinical Trial: n/a
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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