The Mexican American Cultural Values Scale for Adolescents and Adults

Abstract

This research evaluates the properties of a measure of culturally linked values of Mexican Americans in early adolescence and adulthood. The items measure were derived from qualitative data provided by focus groups in which Mexican Americans’ (adolescents, mothers and fathers) perceptions of key values were discussed. The focus groups and a preliminary item refinement resulted in the fifty-item Mexican American Cultural Values Scales (identical for adolescents and adults) that includes nine value subscales. Analyses of data from two large previously published studies sampling Mexican American adolescents, mothers, and fathers provided evidence of the expected two correlated higher order factor structures, reliability, and construct validity of the subscales of the Mexican American Cultural Values Scales as indicators of values that are frequently associated with Mexican/Mexican American culture. The utility of this measure for use in longitudinal research, and in resolving some important theoretical questions regarding dual cultural adaptation, are discussed.

Participation Patterns Among Mexican–American Parents Enrolled in a Universal Intervention and Their Association with Child Externalizing Outcomes

“…Familism includes an expectation that one should provide support to family members during emotionally challenging times (Knight et al, 2010). In this regard, MA parents may feel they are violating family expectations by seeking help outside the family.…”

“…Acculturation was assessed with the 3-item 1Anglo Orientation subscale of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (Cuellar, Arnold, Maldonado, 1995; e.g., "I enjoy listening to English language music") on a 5-point scale from "1 = not at all" to "5 = extremely often or almost always" (α = 0.95). We used the 14-item familism subscale of the Mexican American Cultural Values Scale to assess familism (Knight et al, 2010;e.g., "it is important family members show love and support to one another"). FCGs rated how much they believe each statement on a 5-point scale from "1 =not at all" to "5 = completely" (α = 0.78).…”

Acculturation, Cultural Values, and Latino Parental Beliefs About the Etiology of ADHD

“…Expectations for men include being the provider for the family, being strong and in control, and being the head of the household; expectations for women include having a caretaking role for children and the elderly in the family (Knight et al, 2009;Marín & Marín, 1991). Adherence to traditional gender roles may influence how both mothers and fathers understand child behavior and what cause they ascribe to it.…”

“…(MACVS; Knight et al, 2009). The MACVS is a 50-item measure of several cultural constructs relevant to Latino and mainstream American culture and is available in both English and Spanish.…”

“…The scale measures familism, divided into three subscales of familism support (i.e., "parents should teach their children that the family always comes first"), familism obligations (i.e., "children should be taught that it is their duty to care for their parents when their parents get old"), and familism referent (i.e., "children should always do things to make their parents happy"), as well as respect (i.e., "children should respect adult relatives as if they were parents"), religion (i.e., "God is first, family is second"), and traditional gender roles (i.e., "families need to watch over and protect teenage girls more than teenage boys"). These subscales are combined into an overall as it is related to several similar constructs, such as ethnic pride, ethnic socialization, and country of origin (Knight et al, 2009). The current study used the overall familism subscale and the respect, religion, and traditional gender roles subscales.…”