Testing the factor structure of a scale to assess African American acculturation: A confirmatory factor analysis

Research has pointed to the important role that acculturation plays in understanding a range of physical health behaviors as well as psychological functioning, but only a few studies have attempted to establish reliable and valid measures of African American acculturation. The scale developed by Snowden and Hines (1999) to assess African American acculturation provided an interesting line of inquiry for the present study because no further validation studies have been conducted to assess the underlying factor structure of this measure since its introduction several years ago. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test the measure's underlying structure and to determine consistency with the results of the original study. Results suggest that this scale represents multiple dimensions of acculturation (i.e., media preferences, social interaction patterns, and attitudes). Findings will assist researchers and practitioners in the future measurement and application of this construct.