Neuropsychologists attempting to provide an ethical, and clinically useful assessment of intellectual capability among immigrant youth face great challenges. This is because young immigrants undergo an acculturation process that has a profound effect on cognitive development, and the reliability and validity of norm-referenced intelligence tests. This study explored the clinical utility of the WASI-II among male adolecent Arab Americans (n = 80). It also explored the association between proxy and systematic acculturation factors with verbal and language-reduced IQ performances. The possible moderating influence of accutluration on the predicitive utility of IQ for academic outcomes was also examined. Results showed that proxy acculturation variables were not associated with WASI-II outcomes. Results showed lower verbal than language-reduce IQs, but that difference occurred in the context of signficant variability within and between each IQ index. The difference between each IQ index was mostly associated with sociodemographic factors. English language competence was associated with performance on Vocabulary. No acculturation variable was assocaited with language-reduced IQ after controlling for parent income. Performance on Matrix Reasoning was not influenced by any sociodemographic or acculturation factors. Estimated Full-Scale IQ was the single best predictor of basic reading and math skills, which had moderate level association. Acculturation did not moderate the predicitive association between estimated FSIQ and academic outcomes. Important clinical and research implications, and limitations were outlined.
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