Bidimensional acculturation measurement and sexual risk-taking of Latino college students

This study examined different methods for measuring acculturation as a multidimensional process and tested for associations between acculturation and sexual risk-taking. Respondents were students from colleges and universities in the Midwest (N = 153, M age = 21.25, 58% female) who completed self-report measures of acculturation and sexual risk-taking behavior. The ARSMA-II, a bidimensional acculturation scale, was used to assess two dimensions of acculturation: Anglo orientation and Latino orientation. The ARSMA-II allows for multiple methods of operationalizing acculturation, and in this study two different methods were used to calculate and operationalize acculturation. The first method (cut scores) uses arithmetic means for Latino and Anglo orientation, and subtracts the Latino Orientation mean from the Anglo mean to create a difference score that is placed on an acculturation continuum. The second method (top- and bottom-third splits) places participants within a 2 x 2 matrix of acculturation categories by identifying participants who are high and low on each subscale. An association between acculturation and levels of sexual risk-taking was found using one of the methods. There were differences in sexual risk-taking between acculturation categories using the split scores method. Individuals categorized as “Integrated” (i.e., had both high Latino and Anglo orientations) engaged in less sexual risk-taking. However, no differences were found on sexual risk-taking between acculturation levels using the cut scores method. These findings underscore the strengths, weaknesses, and impact of using different methods to calculate and operationalize acculturation, as well as the links between acculturation and sexual risk-taking