Abstract:

A new assessment inventory,'s development and validation is described using U.S. and Spanish young adult samples based on cultural-historical frameworks .This cross-cultural study of young adults takes place before and after the Trump and other right wing political shifts and examines the cultural validity of four socio-psychological scales concerning adjustment and identity development. Individual and group variations were predicted framed by socio-cultural theory and research regarding gender and national culture. The Cultural Adaptation and Development Inventory (CADI) is a 30-item Likert questionnaire situated in social contexts and individuals. Prior exploratory factor analyses produced a four-factor model of cultural adaptation concerning inter-cultural distress, effort-optimism, positive inter-cultural adaptation, and inter-cultural insensitivity and replicated with new samples of adults. In addition, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale provided additional data for construct validity. Differences between dominant groups reveal important contrasts between these two countries in terms of how cultural identity may vary between nations, as well as differences between non-dominant groups in the US. The findings confirm the interplay between political power, social status and cultural adjustment in understanding and contrasting the socio-psychological adjustment of non-dominant and majority groups interacting in modern diverse cultures.

The goals of this study are(a) to explore D/ND group membership and gender differences in the sociocultural adaptation and adjustment of college students in the United States and Spain from a cultural-historical framework, with particular emphasis on how dominance may operate differently within the two nations and (b) to further validate the Cultural Adaptation and Development Inventory (CADI), an assessment which addresses the role of social contexts in individual/ group differences. This study uses data from college students in Spain and the United States to examine the external validity of the constructs measured by the CADI and focuses on the following research question:
1. How is dominant group membership as expressed by the CADI scales both in the United States and Spain? What are key similarities and differences between dominant groups?
2. What are key similarities and differences between the experiences of non-dominant groups in the United States?

Method:
Our online questionnaire features a battery of instruments including demographic questions from the Youth Adaptation Growth Questionnaire, the CADI, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and a shortened version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. This survey was completed by 2,431 college students in the United States as well as over 300 students in Spain. U.S. participants were on average 21.6 years of age and 30% were male. The Spanish sample was 74.5% female, and two years older.

Results are discussed for each factor that reveal significant differences betwen nations and gender. Females as expected were more culturally sensitive to oppression and discrimination while non-dominant respondents reported greater helplessness, distress and deppression relative to majority groups in both contexts. The role of cultural historical lived experiences account and explain confirmatory findings supportive of our model and the cultural validity of the CADI.

Keywords:

Cultural adaptation, instrument validation, self esteem, deppression, helplessness, gender, cross-cultural differences, distress, discrimination.