Yishan Shen

Development of an Asian American parental racial-ethnic socialization scale.

OBJECTIVE To develop a measure of parental racial-ethnic socialization that is appropriate for Asian American families. METHOD To test the reliability and validity of this new measure, we surveyed 575 Asian American emerging adults (49% female, 79% U.S. born). RESULTS Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the results show 7 reliable subscales: maintenance of heritage culture, becoming American, awareness of discrimination, avoidance of other groups, minimization of race, promotion of equality, and cultural pluralism. Tests of factorial invariance show that overall, the subscales demonstrate, at minimum, partial metric invariance across gender, age, nativity, educational attainment, parent educational attainment, geographic region of residence, and Asian-heritage region. Thus, the relations among the subscales with other variables can be compared across these different subgroups. The subscales also correlated with ethnic identity, ethnic centrality, perceptions of discrimination, and pluralistic orientation, demonstrating construct validity. CONCLUSION In an increasingly complex and diverse social world, our scale will be useful for gaining a better understanding of how Asian American parents socialize their children regarding issues of race, discrimination, culture, and diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record

Longitudinal Measurement Equivalence of Subjective Language Brokering Experiences Scale in Mexican American Adolescents.

Objective: Language brokering occurs frequently in immigrant families and can have significant implications for the well-being of family members involved. The present study aimed to develop and validate a measure that can be used to assess multiple dimensions of subjective language brokering experiences among Mexican American adolescents. Method: Participants were 557 adolescent language brokers (54.2% female, Mage.wave1 = 12.96, SD = .94) in Mexican American families. Results: Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we were able to identify 7 reliable subscales of language brokering: linguistic benefits, socioemotional benefits, efficacy, positive parent–child relationships, parental dependence, negative feelings, and centrality. Tests of factorial invariance show that these subscales demonstrate, at minimum, partial strict invariance across time and across experiences of translating for mothers and fathers, and in most cases, also across adolescent gender, nativity, and translation frequency. Thus, in general, the means of the subscales and the relations among the subscales with other variables can be compared across these different occasions and groups. Tests of criterion-related validity demonstrated that these subscales correlated, concurrently and longitudinally, with parental warmth and hostility, parent–child alienation, adolescent family obligation, depressive symptoms, resilience, and life meaning. Conclusion: This reliable and valid subjective language brokering experiences scale will be helpful for gaining a better understanding of adolescents’ language brokering experiences with their mothers and fathers, and how such experiences may influence their development.

Measurement invariance of language brokering extent and attitudes in linguistic minority adolescents: Item response theory analyses.

Objective: Using item response theory, we sought to evaluate measurement invariance of language brokering extent and attitudes in 3 linguistic minority groups of adolescents. Method: The sample included 765 (302 Chinese American, 327 Korean American, and 136 Mexican American; 57% females) ninth graders from immigrant families. Results: Differential item functioning was detected for several items, and we retained items with equivalent parameters across 3 groups. The final items showed adequate internal consistency reliability and criterion validity. Conclusion: The refined scale is cross-ethnically invariant and appropriate for use with Chinese-American, Korean-American, and Mexican-American adolescents to compare their language brokering experiences.