Beliefs About Child TV Viewing in Low-Income Mexican American Parents of Preschoolers: Development of the Beliefs About Child TV Viewing Scale (B-TV)

Abstract

Objectives Parental beliefs about child television viewing may affect the way parents regulate child television viewing. Despite this, little research has focused on the development of measures of parental beliefs about child television viewing, particularly among ethnic minority parents and parents of young children. This study's objective was to develop and test a culturally-based measure of parental beliefs about television viewing in low-income Mexican American mothers of preschoolers. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, 22 items reflecting parental beliefs about influences of TV on children were developed and assessed for psychometric properties in a sample of 312 low-income Mexican American mothers of preschoolers. Results Using exploratory factor analysis, we identified four factors reflecting four domains of parental beliefs: positive general beliefs, positive sleep-related beliefs, positive functional beliefs, and negative general beliefs. Internal reliabilities were acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.70-0.89) for all factors except negative general beliefs (Cronbach's alpha = 0.61). Positive sleep-related beliefs and Positive Functional Beliefs were correlated with children's average daily hours of TV (r = 0.16, p < .01; r = 0.22, p < .001, respectively) and with mother's average daily hours of TV (r = 0.14, p< .05; r = 0.22, p < .001, respectively), providing initial support for construct validity. Conclusions for Practice The Beliefs about Child TV viewing scale measures four domains of parental beliefs regarding child TV viewing, and has good initial reliability and validity for three factors. Future use will allow investigators to conduct more in-depth evaluations on the influence of parental beliefs on the way parents shape their child's use of the TV.

A qualitative analysis of the social and cultural contexts that shape screen time use in Latino families living on the U.S.-Mexico border

“…The mothers linked consumption of foods of poor nutritional value with obesity and other health outcomes, yet most believed this to be a common problem in other families but not their own. Although skillsbased interventions reinforce the health reasons for restricting snacking during screen time, research on parental perceptions of the home food environment and strategies to help parents link the home food environment and familial dietary behaviours to obesity are warranted (McGuire, Hannan, Neumark-Sztainer, Cossrow, & Story, 2002;Taverno Ross et al, 2018;Thompson et al, 2018).…”

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

“…This study is part of a larger study that aimed to develop measures of maternal beliefs and parenting practices 19, 20 related to child TV use, as well as to test the IMB model as reported in the current study.…”

“…Three domains of parental screen-related beliefs, developed from the literature and from qualitative interviews, were included in the model. 20, 22 Positive General beliefs (7 items, α=0.70) reflected positive benefits of TV viewing (e.g., educational). Positive Functional beliefs (6 items, α=0.89) related to beliefs about the use of the TV for behavior management (e.g., keeping a child calm or quiet).…”

Turkish Validity and Reliability Study of Beliefs About Child TV Viewing Scale

“…It was developed by Thompson et al, in 2018 to evaluate the beliefs of parents of preschool children about TV viewing of children. 9 The scale is composed of a total of 22 items.…”

“…There is no measurement tool in Turkey to measure the parents' beliefs about their children's television watching habits. The aim of this study was to perform Turkish validity and reliability study of the "Beliefs about Child TV Viewing Scale (B-TV)" developed by Thompson et al (2018).…”