Reliability and validity of the 5-item language – Based Latino acculturation scale

Abstract

While there are several reliable and valid measures of Latino acculturation in use, they are relatively expensive to administer and analyze because of their length. Although Marin et. al , 1987 12-item acculturation scale is quite appropriate, factor analytic results suggest the feasibility of a shorter, 5-item scale focused on language use alone. This study investi­gates the psychometric properties of that Language Scale by comparing it with the longer 20-item Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans. Results indicate the proposed scale 5-item scale has high reliability and validity. The Language Scale does not have suf­ficient precision to measure the extent to which persons incorporate both their host and birth cultures. It adequately measures the extent to which the host culture has become familiar or remains unfamiliar to the individual. In some instances, the use of a lengthier scale may not be required, and may even be counterproductive. This is true in some appli­cations, such as clinical trials, pilot studies, and longitudinal studies where the use of the proposed shorter scale can be useful. It applies specially to research situations when inves­tigators wish merely to control for acculturation, rather than study acculturation as a phe­nomenon in its own right.