The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between acculturation and family leisure involvement and aspects of family functioning (cohesion and adaptability) from Mexican-American parent, youth, and family perspectives. Acculturation was measured using the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS), family leisure involvement was measured using the Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP), and family functioning was measured using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES II). The sample was obtained from communities in Texas and Utah and consisted of 74 Mexican-American families, including a parent and child from each family. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, the independent variables were found to help discriminate levels of acculturation for parents, youth, and families. Recommendations are given for commercial and community recreation programs targeting Mexican-American families, in addition to implications for further research.

According to the 2003 US Census, Hispanics make up 13.7% of the population in the United States and are the nation's largest minority group. Out of those, the majority are Mexican-Americans (US Bureau of the Census, 2003). As the population of Hispanics grows in the United States, a greater understanding of cultural characteristics, basic values, attitudes, expectancies, and social behaviors is needed (Marin & Marin, 1991). Researchers need to consider the "dearth of family research" on minority groups if their "work is to remain relevant to policy makers or professionals who work directly with families and children" (McLoyd, Cauce, Takeuchi, & Wilson, 2000, p. 1083). McLoyd et al. claim that of all family research, about 10% focus on African-Americans with even less examining characteristics of Hispanic families. Of the Hispanic studies, including research on Mexican-Americans, many have examined issues related to acculturation (McLoyd et al.).

Acculturation involves adapting one's culture of origin to that of a new culture, and is seen through behavioral and attitudinal changes (Antshel, 2002; Berry, 1980; Corsini, 1987; Marín & Marín, 1991; Rogler, Cortés, & Malgady, 1991). Dumka and Roosa (1997) suggest that acculturation should not be confused with length of time in a country or generational status, but that it is different for each person or family. The amount of first-hand contact and interaction an immigrant has with services, schools, media, people, and the community in the dominant culture affects their acculturation level. For Mexicans who immigrate to the United States, acculturation is the process of changing their culture to the dominant culture found in the United States.

Historically, acculturation has been viewed from various frameworks with the most common being assimilation. Assimilation is described by identifying a person on a continuum leading to two possible destinations-either the culture of origin or the new culture being encountered. This theory holds that as immigrants to the United States become more culturally similar to Anglos they lose an equal amount of their culture of origin. Researchers (Buriel, 1993; Marín & Gamba, 1996; Ramirez, 1983; Sabogal et al., 1987) have disagreed with the assimilation theory claiming that individuals can keep characteristics of both the new culture and the culture of origin. They have described acculturation in three stages: low acculturation, high acculturation, and biculturalism. Low acculturation is the guarding or maintaining of the culture of origin with little or no acculturation into the dominant culture. High acculturation is integrating well into the dominant culture while forgoing the individual's culture of origin. Biculturalism is the concept that a person can become acculturated to the dominant culture, but still retains aspects of one's culture of origin. One weakness of past acculturation research, however, is that few if any studies have reported empirical findings operationalizing low, high, and hi acculturation. Therefore, an empirical study identifying behavioral factors within the low, high, and bi acculturation framework would be beneficial.