Several dimensions of acculturation as well as three cultural orientations were incorporated in the development of the measurement of Culture Change in Mexican American Children (CCMAC). The sample included 116 Mexican American children age 7 to 11 years. The research was designed to assess the psychometric properties of the CCMAC, and evaluate the developmental features of the data. The multidimensional concepts as well as the multicultural aspects of acculturation were assessed. In addition, selected health outcomes were examined and their association to cultural orientation was determined. The findings demonstrated that the CCMAC was deemed valid and reliable with an alpha coefficient of.85 for the cultural assimilation scoring,.83 for the cultural resistance scoring, and.67 for the cultural integration scoring system. The confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis did not support the predicted factor structure. Children who were culturally resistant reported the highest income, less school problems, less home problems and a high GPA. Children who were culturally assimilated were the youngest children, had less homework problems, and were of later generation. The theory that culturally integrated children would report the least number of problems was not supported. It was recommended that the CCMAC be scored in three different ways when estimating individual acculturation trends. When estimating group trends, the CCMAC should be scored in the cultural assimilation orientation. Earlier literature was re-examined and discussed in light of the lack of the identification of the predicted factor structure. Recommendations were based on the CCMAC's contributions to the theory of acculturation in school age Mexican American children.

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The current study examined the effects of acculturative processes on the self-report of behavioral problems in Hispanic children ages 11-14. Acculturation was measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) (ã Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, www.sagepub.com) (Cuellar, Arnold, and Maldonado, 1995) and the self-report of behavioral symptoms was assessed using the Youth Self-Report (ã T.M. Achenbach, Burlington, VT, www.aseba.com) (Achenbach, 1991). It was hypothesized that while both the linear and orthogonal categories of acculturation would account for a significant proportion of the variance in behavior problems in this age group, the orthogonal model would account for a larger proportion of variance due to its multidimensional nature. As well, it was hypothesized that the experimental Marginalization scales of the ARSMA-II would be predictive of behavioral problems. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test these hypotheses and results were non-significant for the linear, orthogonal, and marginalization categories. The effects of the ethnic/cultural homogeneity of the region from which the sample was drawn, the buffering of social support, and the developmental aspects of ethnic identity are discussed as factors which may have influenced the potential impact of acculturative stress on psychological and behavioral functioning.