A tale of two measures: Concordance between the ARSMA-II and the BIQ acculturation scales among Latino immigrant families.

Abstract

Acculturation refers to the extent to which an individual immigrant (or immigrant group) acquires the customs and characteristics of a new receiving society and/or retains the customs and characteristics of the person's or group's cultural heritage. Different acculturation measures are often assumed to be interchangeable, although this assumption is rarely tested empirically. The purpose of the present study was to examine the overlap between 2 commonly used measures of acculturation among individuals of Latino/Hispanic ancestry in the United States, the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans II (ARSMA-II) and the Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire-Short Version (BIQ-S). Specifically, we examined the ways in which scores from the 2 measures relate to one another, as well as similarities versus differences in the ways they predict external variables of interest (e.g., family functioning, parenting, and youth adjustment) that acculturation is known to influence. Findings indicate distinct patterns of results for the 2 measures. For instance, though the BIQ-S focuses entirely on language use and other cultural practices, the ARSMA-II more consistently relates to language variables. Further, adolescent BIQ-S cultural heritage scores related negatively to risks for and engagement in alcohol use-supporting prior findings-whereas ARSMA-II scores were unrelated to alcohol use. Given the largely nonoverlapping set of relationships of the BIQ-S and the ARSMA-II subscale scores with measures of language dominance and conflict, measures of parenting, and measures of youth outcomes, we recommend that studies utilize both of these measures to fully appraise acculturation in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record

Longitudinal effects of acculturation and enculturation on mental health: Does the measure matter?

“…The current findings emphasize that different measures of acculturation are not equivalent in terms of their effects on mental health (Unger et al, 2007). Specifically, and consistent with Martinez et al (2018), changes in the BIQ-S heritage cultural practices subscale were negatively associated with internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Engaging with the heritage culture in terms of language, media, social relationships, and customs may be important in maintaining ties to one's heritage, which may prevent or reduce anxiety, depressive symptoms, and prodeviant attitudes (Mills & Caetano, 2010; Saint-Jean, 2010).…”

“…On that note, the differential effects between the BIQ-S and the ARSMA-II vis-à-vis internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems provides further evidence for our contention that measures of acculturation are not interchangeable as they relate to mental health. Finally, the factor structures we identified for the BIQ-S and the ARSMA-II emphasize the need for further psychometric evaluations of current acculturation measures, an area that has received insufficient attention (Doucerain et al, 2017; Martinez et al, 2018). In sum, the present study represents an important step forward in comparative measurement issues within the field of acculturation as it relates to internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors.…”

“…However, it is important to note that the crosssectional design of the Martinez et al study limited their capacity to explore how changes within both of these measures overlap, and how longitudinal trajectories in acculturation scores from each measure predict youth outcomes. As noted by Martinez et al (2018), comparing measures based on longitudinal trajectories is an important future direction. Given that acculturation represents the process of change in immigrants' cultural orientation as they adapt to life in a new cultural context, acculturation is inherently a developmental process .…”

“…More recently, utilizing a sample of Latino youth in Oregon, Martinez et al (2018) found that acculturation as measured by the BIQ-S (but not the ARSMA-II) was negatively associated with depressive symptoms and with risks for alcohol and drug use. Similarly, enculturation as measured by the BIQ-S (but not the ARSMA-II) was negatively associated with depressive symptoms.…”

Polypharmacy and Depressive Symptoms in U.S.-Born Mexican American Older Adults

“…Items assessed English and Spanish media use, spoken language, maintenance of childhood friendships, building new friendships, frequency of contact with Latin America, and cultural and ethnic dietary practices. Highest scores represent Anglo-oriented participants, middle sores represent bicultural participants, and the lowest score represents least acculturated participants (Mexican-oriented) [37][38][39].…”