THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MEASURE OF ENCULTURATION FOR NATIVE-AMERICAN YOUTH

Enculturation is the process by which individuals learn about and iden tify with their ethnic minority culture. It is distinguished from accu lturation which refers to the process by which an ethnic minority indi vidual is assimilated into the majority culture. Three studies with Na tive American youths are reported that describe the development of a m easure of enculturation for Native American youths. Development of a m easure of enculturation provides a foundation upon which to build a bo dy of literature that focuses on strengths in a youth's life rather th an on deficits. Results of the first study (n = 120), a confirmatory f actor analysis, indicated that cultural affinity, Native American iden tity, and family involvement in traditional activities adequately repr esent the construct of enculturation. The study also provides some con vergent validity for this interpretation. The second study examines fa ctor invariance for enculturation among youths with data from over 2 y ears (n = 69). The factor structure was similar across time. The third study replicates the factor structure and validity analyses with a ne w sample (n = 42). Usefulness of the measure for assessing protective factors and stressing ethnicity over simple assessment of race categor ies is discussed.