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

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how first generation Latino parents, whose primary language is Spanish and live in a colonia on the U.S.-Mexico border, use screen time in their homes.

Methods: A purposeful sampling approach was used to recruit eligible parents of pre-adolescents (ages 9–14) who were native Spanish speakers, and living on the U.S.-Mexico border. Three focus groups in Spanish (two with mothers and one with fathers) were conducted. Data were codified using a general inductive approach based on grounded theory. A consensus process was repeated until a final codebook was developed.

Results: Screen time allowed parents to foster familismo (family cohesiveness and bonding) and respeto (respect). Parents knew that a healthy balance of media use is important, but broader social contexts (marital discord and economics) challenged the enforcement of familial screen time rules and parents were often permissive.

Conclusions: Our study addressed research gaps by examining the understudied social and cultural contexts (practices, routines, rules, and beliefs) that shape children’s screen time use among a sample of Latino immigrants living on the U.S.-Mexico border. This sample of parents indicated that familismo and respeto (i.e., cohesiveness and bonding) influence familial decision-making including screen time.

KEYWORDS:

• Screen time
• Latino immigrant families
• social contexts
• cultural contexts
• familismo
• respeto

Acknowledgments

We thank the colonia residents who participated in this study. We also thank the focus group moderators and promotoras who assisted with data collection and analysis (Vanessa Saldaña, Alfredo Hernandez, Armando Lopez, Kyna Thatcher, Nina Martinez, Lidiana Ramirez, Lizbette Hernandez, Margarita Ramirez, and Silvia Garcia). We thank Tiffany Harris for her assistance with editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from each individual participant involved in this study.

Statement of animal welfare

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Statement of human rights

This study was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities [NIH NCMHD MD000170].

Notes on contributors

Cristina S. Barroso

Cristina S. Barroso, DrPH, received her doctoral and MPH degrees from the University of Texas with a concentration in health promotion and behavioral sciences. Her main area of research is child and adolescent health disparities among Latinos. She is particularly interested in topics concerning childhood obesity, healthy eating, active living, and body image.

Andrew E. Springer

Andrew E. Springer, DrPH, research interests the promotion of child and adolescent health, including the prevention of childhood obesity and promotion of physical activity and healthy eating.

Christopher M. Ledingham

Christopher M. Ledingham, MPH, PhD, studies health program effectiveness and the impact of Coordinated School Health Programs on child and adolescent health.

Steven H. Kelder

Steven H. Kelder, PhD, MPH, has more than 25 years of experience in design and evaluation of child and adolescent research, particularly interventions directed towards youth, schools, and parents. Recently, his emphasis is on interventions designed for promotion of physical activity and healthy eating, obesity prevention, and electronic-cigarette prevention.