Measurement Repository

The Hawaiian Culture Scale – Adolescent Version (HCS-Adolescent) is a 50-item self-report inventory designed to measure Hawaiian ethnic identity and cultural engagement among adolescents. It evaluates how adolescents learn about, value, and maintain Hawaiian beliefs and practices, as well as their attitudes toward non-Hawaiian beliefs. Subscales cover traditional lifestyles, customs and beliefs, social activities, folklore, beliefs about causes and their locations and access, and language proficiency. Items also assess sources of cultural knowledge (e.g., family, school), language use at home, and Hawaiian blood quantum.

The help-seeking index asks about the respondent’s feelings toward seeking help for emotional or personal problems. The measure asks about preferences for seeking help from various mental health care providers and settings (such as mental health professionals, counselors, self-help programs, 12-step meetings), in addition to primary care providers, pastors, traditional practitioners, Elders, and family members. There is no total score for this index, rather it is an inventory of how participants prefer to get the help they need.

The Historical Loss Scale is an instrument that asks Indigenous respondents how often they think about specific collective losses inflicted by colonization,  such as loss of land, language, cultural traditions, and family ties. Each item is rated on a six point frequency continuum from “several times a day” to “never,” with higher summed scores indicating‑ greater daily salience of historical trauma.

The Home-Based Family Involvement measure assesses the frequency with which caregivers engage in educational and cultural activities at home with their child. It includes items about helping with schoolwork or learning tasks, maintaining routines, and engaging in cultural practices like storytelling and reading together. Respondents indicate how often they do each activity using a 4-point scale from “Never” to “Always.” This measure has been adapted for use with both adults and youth, with the adult version including one additional item. The measure provides insight into home-based behaviors that support children’s learning, development, and cultural connection. Higher scores reflect more frequent involvement in supportive home routines and activities.

The Indian Culture Scale (ICS) is a structured measure designed to assess the extent of cultural affiliation and identity with American Indian traditions and practices. It was originally developed to examine cultural ties among American Indian alcohol users (Westermeyer & Neider, 1986). The measure includes items on frequency of contact with Indian relatives and friends, presence of Indian community members nearby, language comprehension, reservation ties, and participation in cultural activities such as powwows, religious practices, and traditional crafts. Higher scores indicate stronger cultural affiliation.

The Infant Responsive Feeding Scale is a caregiver-report questionnaire designed to assess maternal feeding behaviors for infants under 12 months of age. It was adapted from the Toddler Responsive Feeding Scale to reflect feeding practices relevant to infants, focusing on the extent to which mothers engage in “responsive feeding” — feeding behaviors that are sensitive to infant hunger and satiety cues. The measure is used to evaluate maternal feeding styles that may promote healthy or unhealthy weight gain during the first year of life. The scale is brief, feasible to administer, and was incorporated into Family Spirit studies (https://cih.jhu.edu/programs/family-spirit-nurture/) to monitor outcomes of nutrition interventions.

The Intergenerational Connectedness Measure is a 5-item scale assessing an individual’s sense of connection across past, present, and future generations. Participants respond to statements such as “I feel connected to my ancestors” and “I think about how I can be a good ancestor” using a Likert-style response scale. The measure captures core aspects of intergenerational relationality, including honoring ancestral ties, feeling responsibility for future generations, and maintaining cultural continuity. It is designed to elevate strengths-based indicators of well-being rooted in Indigenous worldviews and is intended to support community wellness efforts, cultural programming, and research grounded in Indigenous values.

Designed to collect locally relevant, contextual, quantitative data based on the Interplay Wellbeing Framework (culture, empowerment, community, education, work and health)

The six-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), and its ten-item parent K10, is a self-report screening measure that asks how often in the past 30 days people felt 1) so depressed nothing could cheer them up, 2) hopeless, 3) nervous, 4) restless/fidgety, 5) that everything was an effort, and 6) worthless. The K10 repeats these domains with additional intensity items. Designed for time-limited population health surveys, the scale yields a snapshot of non-specific psychological distress that efficiently flags individuals at risk for DSM-defined mood, anxiety or psychotic disorders. Responses are provided on a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from “None of the time” to “All of the time”. Item responses are typically summed for a total score between 0–24.

The Lakota Cultural Influences subscale is part of the broader Lakota Women and Cervical Cancer Survey, developed to explore the intersection of traditional Lakota cultural practices and cervical cancer prevention behaviors. This 11-item subscale includes three domains: (1) participation in Lakota ceremonies such as Inipi (Rite of Purification), Pow-Wow, Wiwanyag Wachipi (Sundance), Isnati (Womanhood Ceremony), and Hunkapi (Making of the Relative); (2) use and influence of the Lakota language, including comprehension, speaking, household use, and influence on thought and action; and (3) cultural values such as having role models and practicing self-respect. The subscale was created through an iterative process involving cognitive interviews with Lakota elders, cultural experts, and community members to ensure cultural validity and meaningful representation of lived experiences (Bowker, 2017; Bowker, Gee, & Huttlinger, 2021).

This measure captures participation in seasonal, land-based traditional practices over the past 12 months. Items ask participants whether they engaged in specific cultural activities such as ricing, fishing, hunting, berry picking, and gathering medicines or birch bark. The measure also includes an open-ended question to allow participants to describe other land-based traditional activities not explicitly listed. One additional item asks about time spent in nature, and another captures participants’ reasons for limited participation if applicable. The purpose of the measure is to assess engagement with cultural practices that are vital for Indigenous identity, well-being, and connection to land.

The Language measure assesses participants’ understanding, speaking ability, and exposure to the Anishinaabe language in various settings. It includes items that ask whether individuals can understand or speak Anishinaabe, the level of fluency, and where they encounter or use the language, such as at home, school, or community events. The measure also gathers information on how often Anishinaabe is spoken in the home and who the primary speakers are. The purpose of the measure is to capture language engagement as a key aspect of cultural connection and transmission.