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The present study examined the relationship between discriminatory experiences and acculturative stress levels among a sample of 283 Dominican immigrants. Findings from a linear regression analysis revealed that experiences of daily racial discrimination and major racist events were significant predictors of acculturative stress after controlling for demographics, acculturation, and transnationalism. Findings from this study have implications for interventions with this understudied and underserved population given the evidence of the negative effect of discriminatory experiences.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors distinguishing Mexican American women living near the U.S.-Mexican border who are resilient to the experience of stress from those who are not. The study sample consisted of 418 participants ranging in age from 20 to 61 years. Data were gathered through a self-report survey instrument composed of items assessing stress vulnerability, acculturation, health, physical activity, education, and marital status. Descriptive discriminant analysis was used to determine which variables made the greatest contribution in discerning between stress-resistant and stress-susceptible women. The results indicated that higher educational attainment, greater acculturation, better health status, and marriage differentiated between those women reporting themselves resilient to the effects of stress and those reporting being vulnerable. These results have implications for stress resilience promotion among this population group. Keywords: stress resilience; vulnerability; acculturation; Mexican American women; hardiness

This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Brief Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) using two samples of Mexican American children: 292 middle school students from a mid-sized culturally diverse southwestern city, and 116 third-through fifth graders in culturally homogeneous rural elementary schools. Results provided evidence of the reliability and validity of this measure of acculturation for both age levels. Factor analysis supported the two-scale structure reported by Cuellar. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was adequate for both samples. Validity demonstrated by the significant association between the distribution of acculturation status and sample group. Language of form (English or Spanish) selected by the student was correlated with acculturation status. Keywords: acculturation; bullying; children; adolescents

The relationships among client-therapist ethnic match, client age group, client acculturation, ethnic identity, and generation level and their effect on client global assessment of function (GAF), total mental health visits, and costs were examined with a sample of 204 Latino adult and child community mental health clients. Acculturation was measured using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II), and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) served as the measure of ethnic identity. The adjusted findings indicated that GAF outcomes declined for Anglo-oriented Latino clients who reported low ethnic identity. These results are discussed in light of a Multicultural Assessment Intervention Process Model (MAIP) that helps guide service delivery to community mental health consumers.

This study proposed to describe the effect of assimilation on self-concept and abuse in a rural, minority population of Mexican American women. Ethnic language translations were developed to enable investigation with a rural, Spanish-speaking, Mexican American population. Reassessment of reliability and validity of both English and Spanish translations of instrumentation for a rural population was performed. Data were collected through convenience sampling from both rural battered women's shelters and rural community service centers. Significant differences were found between groups of abused (n = 85) versus non-abused (n = 84) women on dimensions of self-concept. Assimilation variables found to be significantly correlated with self-concept for abused and non-abused Mexican American women included language, attitudes toward traditional family structure, and values. Significant differences were found between abused and non-abused Mexican American women in attitudes toward traditional family structure and sex-role identification.