Children’s Acculturation Scale (CAS)

Abstract

The Children’s Acculturation Scale (CAS), developed by J. N. Franco in 1983, is a brief, ten-item instrument designed to measure the degree of acculturation among Mexican-American children. The scale aims to quantify the child’s cultural orientation along a continuum, typically ranging from traditional Hispanic culture to mainstream Anglo-American culture.

The CAS incorporates items covering essential aspects of cultural adaptation, including language proficiency and preference, cultural identification, peer group associations, and critical demographic indicators such as parental socioeconomic status (occupation and educational level) and the child’s generational status in the United States.

Keywords

Acculturation, Mexican-American, Children, Cultural Identity, Language Preference, Generational Status, Socioeconomic status, Psychological Assessment, Bilingualism.

Authors

Franco, J. N.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CAS is to provide a quick, quantifiable measure of cultural adaptation and assimilation specifically tailored for use with school-aged Mexican-American children. This instrument helps researchers and clinicians assess the extent to which children have adopted the language, customs, and social behaviors of the dominant Anglo-American culture.

By assessing multiple domains—from language usage in the home to preference in music and peer groups—the CAS offers a practical tool for identifying a child’s position on the acculturation continuum. This information is crucial for understanding potential cultural conflicts, educational attainment, and psychological adjustment outcomes.

Construct

The CAS measures the psychological construct of Acculturation. In the context of the scale, acculturation is understood as the process by which individuals from one culture adapt to the cultural norms, values, and practices of a different, dominant culture following continuous contact.

The scale operationalizes this construct by focusing on observable behaviors and expressed preferences that reflect cultural shifts. These indicators include linguistic competence (English proficiency), preferred social reference groups (Anglo vs. Hispanic peers), and cultural markers such as musical tastes and preferred ethnic identity labels. Furthermore, the inclusion of generational status helps contextualize the length and depth of exposure to U.S. culture.

Validity

While the original 1983 publication by Franco provides the foundational evidence for the scale’s utility, its construct validity is supported by the breadth of items included, which align with established components of acculturation theory (e.g., language, social contact, identity). The scale has been widely cited and utilized in subsequent research on Mexican-American youth, suggesting recognized utility in the field.

The original development aimed to ensure that the items reliably discriminated between children who were highly assimilated versus those who maintained a traditional cultural orientation. Further validation studies often link CAS scores to other measures of cultural behavior or academic outcomes, demonstrating its predictive value.

Reliability

The initial development of the CAS, as documented by Franco (1983), included assessments of its internal consistency, a key measure of reliability. The scale is designed to ensure that all ten items contribute consistently to the measurement of the single, underlying acculturation factor.

Due to its brevity and clear scaling, the CAS is considered a reliable measure for quick assessment, particularly when used in large-scale educational or community studies involving Mexican-American children.

Factor Analysis

The Children’s Acculturation Scale is generally conceptualized and scored as a unidimensional measure. Although the items cover distinct aspects of a child’s life (language, family background, peer relations), the cumulative score is intended to reflect a single underlying factor of acculturation level.

The initial psychometrics work likely confirmed that a single factor solution adequately explains the variance among the items, justifying the use of a total score to represent the child’s degree of cultural adaptation or assimilation.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report or proxy-report (often administered to parents or teachers regarding the child)

Format: 10-item Likert-type scale, typically using a 5-point response format.

Language Available: English (Original items are presented in English).

Population Group: Children of Mexican descent (Mexican-American).

Age Group: School-aged children (specific grade levels implied by item 1).

Population Details: Developed for use with Mexican-American populations in the United States to assess cultural adaptation.

Test Methodology: Pencil-and-paper survey format, often used in clinical, educational, or research settings.

Keywords

CAS, Franco, Cultural Adaptation, Ethnicity, Identity Preference, Language Proficiency, School Psychology, Cultural Measurement.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in the source documentation.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in the source documentation.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in the source documentation.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 1983 by J. N. Franco. As a brief instrument published in an academic journal, permission for its use is typically granted through standard academic referencing, though commercial use may require permission from the original journal or author.

The instrument is documented in academic texts, such as the volume available via Springer. The documentation of this instrument can be found here: http://www.springer.com/978-1-4419-6696-4.

Reference’s

• Franco‚ J. N. (1983). An acculturation scale for Mexican-American children. The Journal of General Psychology‚ 108‚ 175–181.
• Hess‚ R. S.‚ & D’Amato‚ R. C. (1996). High school completion among Mexican-American children: Individual and family background variables. School Psychology Quarterly‚ 11‚ 353–368.
• Davis LE and Engel RJ. Measuring Race and Ethnicity. New York‚ NY: Springer 2011.

Items of the Children’s Acculturation Scale (CAS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. The student’s English proficiency for a student at his/her grade level is
   • 1 = Poor; 2 = Below average; 3 = Average; 4 = Above average; 5 =Excellent
2. Father’s occupation
   • 1 = Unemployed; 2 = Laborer; 3 = Blue collar; 4 = White collar; 5 = Professional
3. Mother’s occupation
   • 1 = Unemployed; 2 = Laborer; 3 = Blue collar; 4 = White collar; 5 = Professional
4. To the best of your knowledge‚ which language is spoken at this child’s home?
   • 1 = Spanish only; 2 = Mostly Spanish; 3 = Both Spanish and English; 4 = Mostly English; 5 = English only
5. In your opinion‚ which language does the child prefer to use?
   • 1 = Spanish only; 2 = Mostly Spanish; 3 = Both Spanish and English; 4 = Mostly English; 5 = English only
6. In your opinion‚ would this child prefer to be identified as
   • 1 = Mexican; 2 = Chicano; 3 = Mexican American; 4 = Spanish American‚ Latin American‚ Hispanic American; 5 = Anglo American or White
7. In your opinion‚ does this child associate with
   • 1 = Hispanics only; 2 = mostly with Hispanics; 3 = Hispanics and Anglos equally; 4 = mostly Anglos; 5 = Anglos only
8. Educational level of head of household
   • 1 = 1–5 years; 2 = 4–9 years; 3 = Some high school; 4 = High school graduate; 5 = Post high school
9. In your opinion‚ would this child’s music preference be
   • 1 = Spanish music; 2 = Mostly Spanish; 3 = Spanish and English equally; 4 = Mostly English; 5 = English only
10. To the best of your knowledge‚ is this child
    • 1 = Not an American citizen; 2 = A first-generation American; 3 =A second-generation American; 4 = A third-generation American; 5 = A fourth or more generation American