Validation of an Acculturation Measure for Hispanic Adolescents

Abstract

Based on the continuing growth and youthfulness of the Hispanic population in the United States, valid cultural measures are needed for Hispanic adolescents. Hispanics living in this country experience acculturation or cultural change during their exposure to American culture. A matched sample of 994 Hispanic students and their parents completed acculturation measures. Scores on a 10-item acculturation scale completed by the adolescents' parents correlated significantly .49 with a single-item rating, a measure of acculturation by adolescents. This finding supports construct validity for a measure of language use as an index of linguistic acculturation for Hispanic adolescents.