The AHIMSA Acculturation Scale: A New Measure of Acculturation for Adolescents in a Multicultural Society
Document Type
Article
Department
Community and Global Health (CGU)
Publication Date
8-2002
Disciplines
Health Psychology | Multicultural Psychology | Race and Ethnicity | Social Psychology
Abstract
Acculturation has been associated with adolescent health-risk behaviors. Most acculturation scales are inappropriate for adolescent surveys because they are too long, are not applicable to differing ethnic groups, or are language-based only. A brief, multidimensional, multicultural acculturation measure for adolescents was developed. Sixthgrade students (N = 317) in Los Angeles completed that scale and other measures of acculturation. The Acculturation, Habits, and Interests Multicultural Scale for Adolescents (AHIMSA) generates four subscores: United States Orientation (Assimilation), Other Country Orientation (Separation), Both Countries Orientation (Integration), and Neither Country Orientation (Marginalization). Three of the subscales were correlated with the subscales of a modified Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican-Americans-II, with English language usage, and with generation in the United States providing evidence for the validity of the scale. Research on culturally diverse adolescent samples might benefit from the inclusion of the AHIMSA.
Rights Information
© 2002 Sage Publications, Inc.
DOI
10.1177/02731602022003001
Recommended Citation
Unger, J.B., Gallaher, P., Shakib, S., Ritt-Olson, A., Palmer, P.H., & Johnson, C.A. The AHIMSA Acculturation Scale: A new measure of acculturation for adolescents in a multicultural society. J Early Adolesc, 22(3), 225-251, 2002.
