Psychometric properties of the AMAS-ZABB with sojourners Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association (APA) annual meeting , Washington D.C. August 2005 Kimberly K. Asner-Self Southern Illinois University - Carbondale James B. Schreiber Duquesne University Maria Cecilia Zea George Washington University Cindy L.. Anderton Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

Introduction The AMAS-ZABB (Zea, Asner-Self, Birman, & Buki, 2003) is a 42-item, paper and pencil, self-report, Likert-like, bilinear, multidimensional acculturation scale designed to measure three dimensions across cultures Psychometric properties only studied with two samples, both Latino/a. The current study presents reliability, validity, and factor analytic data on a sample of international university students from a variety of countries.

Acculturation Acculturation, the ongoing psychological and behavioral change an individual undergoes as a consequence of long-term contact with another culture (Berry, 1980; Berry & Sam, 1997; Stonequist, 1935, 1937) Definition evolving from conceptualizing and measuring acculturation as a linear, unidimensional to a bilinear, multidimensional process.

Initially considered a linear process (e. g Initially considered a linear process (e.g., Cuéllar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980) where change consisted of assimilation into the dominant culture, now thought to be more of a bilinear, multidimensional process (Birman & Tyler, 1994) where change occurs over several domains (behavior, cultural identity, knowledge, language, values) in relation to both the host culture and the culture of origin over time (e.g., Cortés, Rogler, & Malgady, 1994; Cuéllar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995; Marín & Gamba, 1996; Szapocznik, Kurtines, & Fernández, 1980, Zea, Asner-Self, Birman, & Buki, 2003).

Measuring Acculturation Many measures look at acculturation as a bilinear, multidimensional process (see Zea et al., 2003 for a review). Most are culture specific (e.g., Latinos/as: Cortés et al., 1994; Cuéllar et al., 1995; Mendoza, 1989 or Asians: Tsai, Ying, & Lee, 2000). Two measures, the AMAS-ZABB and the Stephenson Multigroup Acculturation Scale (2000) claim to be generalizable process across acculturating groups. The AMAS has only been studied with Latino/as

Research Goals Psychometric properties of the 42-item AMAS with international students (97% non-Latino). Reliability of scale and subscale scores. Concurrent validity with years in U.S. Confirmatory factor analysis

Method - Participants International students at a large Midwestern public university. n = 233; 123 women, 107 men, 3 did not report Mean age = 26.85 (SD = 5.74). 79 were undergraduates; 152 graduate students (2 did not report). 155 were single; 66 were married (12 did not report). 182 (78%) considered themselves in the U.S. for a limited time as sojourners Years in the U.S. ranged from just arrived to 20.25 years Mean= 3.29 (3.65); Median = 2.5 years; Mode = 9.6 months.

151 students from Asian countries 64.8% 31 students from Europe 13.3 22 students from Africa 9.4 8 students from the Middle East 3.4 7 students from Latin America 3.0 5 students from the Caribbean 2.1 1 student from New Zealand .4 7 born in the U.S of non-US parents, 3.0 and raised outside US.

Method - Procedure Recruited via flyers, at campus events, in classes for extra credit, and through an international student listserv. Students voluntarily completed a survey packet containing an informed consent form, a demographic sheet , and the AMAS-ZABB and returned them by campus mail.

Method - Instrumentation Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (Zea et al., 2003). 42-item, self-report, paper and pencil scale Earlier international student (Latino/a) psychometrics: a = .90-.97 Concurrent validity with time of U.S. residence Convergent and discriminant validity with BIQ-B

The AMAS Factor Model in the Literature (Zea et al., 2003). Bilinear, multidimensional acculturation scale designed to measure three dimensions (six factors): language competence, cultural identity, and cultural competence within the host culture and culture of origin.

Identity Dimension The cultural identity dimension measures how individuals perceive their cultural selves in relation to the U.S. dominant culture and culture of origin.

Language Dimension Language competence is conceptualized as spoken, written, and receptive relative fluency in both languages (English/one’s first language).

Cultural Competence Dimension The cultural competence subscale focuses on historical, political and popular cultural knowledge in both cultures

Analysis Means, standard deviations, and internal consistency coefficients calculated using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha by subscale. Concurrent validity with years in the U.S. Using SPSSx Version 13 for Windows, we conducted a principal components analysis using Oblique rotation with Kaiser (1960) normalization and a cut-off of .45 limiting the components extracted to the theoretically derived six.

Table 1: International students AMAS score range, means, standard deviations, and coefficient alphas Scores Mean s.d. alpha U.S. Total 2.55 .47 .900 U.S. Identity 1.98 .82 .915 English 3.15 .57 .949 U.S. Cultural Competence 2.52 .55 .846 Culture-of-Origin (COO) Total 3.59 .39 .915 COO Identity 3.63 .54 .910 Language 3.78 .50 .954 COO Cultural Competence 3.37 .57 .856

Results for Research Goal 1 Internal consistency for this sample’s AMAS scores is high although slightly lower than those reported in the literature (Zea et al., 2003).

Table 2: Pearson Product-Moment correlations among years in the U. S Table 2: Pearson Product-Moment correlations among years in the U.S. and AMAS subscales.

Results for Research Goal 2 Length of time these sojourners had been in the U.S. was related to U.S. identity, English, and U.S. cultural competence and inversely related to Country-of-origin language and Cultural competence.

Table 3: PCA, Oblique rotation, 6 component structure of the 42-item AMAS scores with int’l students (n=233)

Results for Research Goal 3 The Factor Analysis supported the AMAS’s 6 component model with this group of international students.

Implications The AMAS can be used to study international university students acculturation process to the U.S.

Limitations Only university students were surveyed limiting generalizability. The majority of these university students considered themselves sojourners as opposed to immigrants. Survey data – one point in time.

Further research Study the AMAS’s latent structure Access non-Latino/a community participants to confirm use across acculturating groups beyond university students. Conduct longitudinal studies to determine the AMAS’s ability to measure acculturative change among sojourners, immigrants, and refugees.