Measuring acculturative stress with the SAFE: Evidence for longitudinal measurement invariance and associations with life satisfaction

International graduate students in the U.S. (N = 468) completed the Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE; Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987) three times in successive semesters. Confirmatory analyses of competing measurement models led to a revised version of the scale that was further supported through tests of longitudinal measurement invariance. Associations between acculturative stress (General stress, Family stress) and life satisfaction generally revealed significant inverse relations both within and between time-points.