Psychometric testing of the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory among Asian Americans

This is a report of psychometric testing of the modified Multidimensional Acculturative Stress inventory (MASI) on Asian Americans. The MASI, initially developed as a 36-item measure to assess acculturative stress within individuals of Mexican origin and other Latinos in the United States, was modified for use with Asian Americans. Acculturative stress is defined for this measure as a multifaceted construct comprising four factors: English competency pressure, Asian language competency pressure, pressure to acculturate, and pressure against acculturation. Participants were recruited through social media using a purposive non-random sampling technique. We employed an instrument validation design, conducting a cross-sectional Qualtrics survey, including demographic characteristics and the modified MASI. The psychometric analysis used the model congeneric structure with confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency reliability assessment. A total of 337 participants took part in the study (7% Asian Indian, 27% Chinese, 13% Vietnamese, 13% Korean, 7% Filipino, 18% Japanese, and 16% other ethnicities [Hmong, Thai, Lao, Cambodian]). After the elimination of one item (i.e., I have a hard time understanding others when they speak English) because of its non-significant contribution, the congeneric model (35-item) demonstrated a good fit to the data. Item loadings for the remaining items ranged from .29 to .80 and were statistically significant (p < .05). All subdomains exhibited acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from .74 to .79 and omega coefficients ranging from .80 to .84. Our study findings affirm the suitability of the modified 35-item MASI as a valid and reliable instrument for measuring acculturative stress within the Asian American population.