(PS4-44) Assessing the Temporal Invariance of Acculturation Scales in a Sample of Mexican Americans over 5 Years

Mexican Americans make up approximately one-fifth of the United States (U.S.) population, and this proportion is expected to grow in the coming decades. Acculturation is critical to understanding how individuals process cultural change and stressors. Moreover, acculturation influences policy and intervention implementation. Scales have been developed to measure acculturation, including the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) (Cuéllar et al., 1995), the Mexican Intercultural Competence Scale (MICS) (Torres, 2013), and the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI) (Rodriguez, et al., 2002). The MICS and MASI have been shown to be psychometrically sound in samples of Latiné individuals (Torres, 2013) (Castillo et al., 2015). The ARSMA-II has been shown to account for significant variance in acculturation; however when used as a bi-dimensional model of Anglo vs. Mexican orientation, the fit improved (Jones & Mortimer, 2014). However, there are no studies to our knowledge analyzing the temporal invariance of these scales. Without such knowledge, these measures of a critical construct may not be confidently used in longitudinal research.

The purpose of this study is to assess the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the ARSMA-II, MICS, and MASI over a period of three years. Prior analyses of our sample suggest significant acculturative stress in this population over five years (Lawrence et al., 2025). Given these findings and the prevalence of acculturative stressors among Mexican Americans in the U.S., especially during the time when the data were collected (2016-2021), we hypothesize significant variance in these scales over time.

Our sample comprised 200 individuals (100 couples), approximately 75% of whom identified as Mexican American. Questionnaires were administered annually for five years. The ARSMA-II, MICS, and MASI were all administered at three timepoints. We are using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to assess temporal invariance.

If the scales are invariant across time, they can be confidently used in longitudinal research. However, if significant variance is detected, adjustments may include weighing the scales differently or using latent means for invariant constructs. Data collection is complete, preliminary analyses demonstrate significant acculturative stress, and further analyses are underway.