Validating the Negative Context of Reception Scale for Mainland Puerto Ricans

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which the Negative Context of Reception Scale generates valid and reliable scores with Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria survivors. A sample of 319 adult Hurricane Maria survivors completed measures of the negative context of reception, discrimination, language stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, optimism, and life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that the previously validated one-factor solution fit the data adequately, and multigroup invariance tests indicated that this solution fit largely equivalently across gender, age groups, year of arrival in the United States, and self-reported English proficiency. Negative context of reception was correlated positively with discrimination and language stress, positively with symptoms of depression and anxiety, and negatively with optimism and life satisfaction. It may be important to adjust item order to reduce intercorrelations among some item responses. This study offers an instrument that counselors can use with Hurricane Maria survivor clients.

Experiences of cultural stress among U.S. citizen migrants: A mixed method approach.

“…Responses were measured using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In recent research, the coefficient α (reliability) for the original six-item measure ranged from .76 to .86 (Salas-Wright, Oh, et al, 2021), including .84 with Hurricane Maria survivors (Schwartz et al, 2024). The α for the four items used in the present sample was .78.…”

“…The present study is part of a series of efforts to extend cultural stress theory to U.S. citizen crisis migration (see also Montero-Zamora, Salas-Wright, et al, 2023; Salas-Wright et al, 2023; Schwartz et al, 2024). Although internal migration—individuals migrating within a nation—is qualitatively different from international migration (Bell et al, 2015), Puerto Rican migration to the U.S. mainland lies somewhere between these two types of migration.…”

“…NCR examines the degree to which migrants, in this case Puerto Ricans, perceive that their group is unwelcome or mistreated based on its cultural or national identity (Salas-Wright, Oh, et al, 2021; Schwartz et al, 2014). NCR was measured using four key items of the Perceived NCR Scale, which has been rigorously validated with Puerto Rican and other Latin American migrant populations (Salas-Wright, Oh, et al, 2021; Schwartz et al, 2014, 2024). These items, characterized by high factor loading and the clearest conceptual clarity for Puerto Ricans, include “I don’t have the same chances in life here as immigrants from other countries,” “Puerto Ricans are not welcome here,” “It is hard for me to do well at work here because I am Puerto Rican,” and “Employers treat Puerto Ricans differently than they treat people from other countries.” Responses were measured using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 5 ( strongly agree ).…”

“…These items, characterized by high factor loading and the clearest conceptual clarity for Puerto Ricans, include “I don’t have the same chances in life here as immigrants from other countries,” “Puerto Ricans are not welcome here,” “It is hard for me to do well at work here because I am Puerto Rican,” and “Employers treat Puerto Ricans differently than they treat people from other countries.” Responses were measured using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 5 ( strongly agree ). In recent research, the coefficient α (reliability) for the original six-item measure ranged from .76 to .86 (Salas-Wright, Oh, et al, 2021), including .84 with Hurricane Maria survivors (Schwartz et al, 2024). The α for the four items used in the present sample was .78.…”

“…Although cultural stress theory has been examined within a variety of Latino immigrant populations (e.g., Schwartz et al, 2015Schwartz et al, , 2018, there is a dearth of research investigating cultural stress among Puerto Rican populations generally and Hurricane Maria survivors specifically (see Montero-Zamora, Salas-Wright, et al, 2023;Schwartz et al, 2024, for examples of such work). Critically, most extant cultural stress research, and nearly all of the work conducted with Hurricane Maria survivors, has been exclusively quantitative (e.g., Capielo Rosario & Dillon, 2020;Capielo Rosario et al, 2019).…”