Description

The Retrospective Indigenous Childhood Enrichment (RICE) Scale is a self-report measure designed to assess participation in and exposure to a broad range of activities during childhood (up to age 15). These include traditional Aboriginal cultural activities (e.g., art, ceremonies, storytelling), community events, physical activities, reading, and games. The scale captures the richness and diversity of early life experiences, including social, cognitive, physical, and cultural engagement, with the aim of linking these experiences to later-life cognitive and health outcomes. Importantly, the scale allows participants to define “traditional” in personally meaningful ways, ensuring sensitivity to cultural loss due to colonization, discrimination, and racism. The original RICE scale included 21 items, but factor analyses reduced it to a validated 18-item version with three subscales:

  • Traditional (5 items): e.g., traditional stories, ceremonies, songs, rituals, dance.
  • Intellectual (5 items): e.g., reading, library use, newspapers, puzzles.
  • Community (8 items): e.g., church, community events, sport, art, singing.

AI/AN Communities where the measure has been used

Aboriginal communities in New South Wales and Sydney, Australia.

Demographics of AI/AN participants where the scale has been used

  • Aboriginal adults aged 60 years and older (population-based sample of 336, KGOWS study).
  • Aboriginal adults aged 50 years and older (convenience sample of 38, Sydney study).

Notes on adaptations or modifications

  1. Larke et al. (2021) used only the 5-item “Traditional” subscale of the RICE Scale, focusing specifically on traditional cultural engagement.

Modality and administration

Self-report; can be self-administered (paper-and-pencil) or interviewer-administered (flexible administration accommodates participants with low literacy, visual impairment, or differing understandings of “traditional”)

Scoring

  • Each question is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (e.g., 1 = Never to 5 = Very Often, or 1 = None to 5 = A Lot, depending on the item).
  • Items are summed within subscales and across the full measure. Higher scores indicate greater exposure to enriching activities.

Psychometric evidence

  • Internal consistency: Cronbach’s α = 0.79 (overall), 0.72–0.76 for subscales.
  • Excellent test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.95) and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.99).

Citation(s)

Original Citation:

  • Minogue, C., Delbaere, K., Radford, K., Broe, T., Forder, W. S., & Lah, S. (2018). Development and initial validation of the Retrospective Indigenous Childhood Enrichment scale (RICE). International Psychogeriatrics, 30(4), 519–526. https://doi.org/10.1017/S104161021700179X

Example Use Citation:

  • Larke, B. M., Broe, G. A., Daylight, G., Draper, B., Cumming, R. G., Allan, W., Donovan, T., Costa, D., Lah, S., & Radford, K. (2021). Patterns and preferences for accessing health and aged care services in older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 40(2), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12864

Disclaimer: The included citations are not exhaustive, but represent the examples we had access to. If you are an original author or have other work that could be included here, please contact us.