Development of the Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress Measure for Hispanic/Latine Adolescents

The present study provides preliminary evidence for validity of the Multidimensional Inventory of Cultural Stress (MICS), a measure of cultural stress developed to expand existing conceptualizations of cultural stress. The participants were 309 Hispanic/Latine adolescents (60.2% female; M age = 15.30 years). Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) revealed a four-factor solution: exclusionary political climate (i.e., perception of anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric), Spanish criticism (i.e., experiences of being criticized for Spanish proficiency), within-group discrimination (i.e., experiences of being bullied/discriminated against for being too enculturated), and language brokering (i.e., experiences with having to translate for parents). Moreover, whereas exclusionary political climate was positively associated with alcohol use and symptoms of anxiety, Spanish criticism was negatively associated with self-esteem and positively associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. These findings expand our current conceptualization of cultural stress and provide further guidance regarding how cultural stress impacts adjustment.