Division of Data Analytics Planning and Monitoring, Data and Analytics Section, UNICEF, New York, New York; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia.
J Adolesc Health. 2023 Jan;72(1S):S34-S39. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.05.026. Epub 2022 Aug 4.
Adapting data collection instruments using transcultural translation and adaptation processes is essential to ensure that respondents comprehend the items and the original meaning is retained across languages and contexts. This approach is central to UNICEF's efforts to expand the use of standard data collection tools across settings and close the global data gap on adolescent mental health.
We conducted transcultural translation and adaptation processes in Belize using the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). Items from the original scale were translated into Belizean English and Kriol, reviewed by local mental health experts, and discussed in focus groups. Cognitive interviews were conducted with adolescents and parents. The information collected was analyzed with cultural equivalence domains: comprehensibility, acceptability, relevance, completeness, and technical equivalence. Bilingual discussions of findings informed the final item wordings, and the adapted tool was back-translated.
Adaptation of terms and specific expressions were done to improve comprehensibility and to ensure the appropriate clinical meaning. For example, the expression 'feeling scared' was perceived to imply immaturity or threaten masculinity and was adapted to 'feeling afraid.' Expressions like "shaky" were modified to "trimble" in Kriol. Statements were reworded as questions to enhance acceptability and comprehensibility.
A culturally adapted version of the RCADS was developed for use among adolescents in Belize in Belizean English and Kriol. The transcultural translation and adaptation procedure can be applied for other settings or tools to design contextual adaptations of mental health instruments prior to their validation or use in new settings.
使用跨文化翻译和适应过程改编数据收集工具对于确保受访者理解项目以及在语言和语境之间保留原始含义至关重要。这种方法是儿基会努力在不同环境中扩大使用标准数据收集工具并缩小青少年心理健康全球数据差距的核心。
我们在伯利兹使用修订后的儿童焦虑和抑郁量表（RCADS）进行了跨文化翻译和适应过程。原始量表的项目被翻译成伯利兹英语和克里奥尔语，由当地心理健康专家审查，并在焦点小组中进行讨论。对青少年和家长进行了认知访谈。使用文化等效性领域分析收集到的信息：可理解性、可接受性、相关性、完整性和技术等效性。双语讨论发现结果为最终的项目措辞提供了信息，并对改编后的工具进行了回译。
为了提高可理解性并确保适当的临床意义，对术语和特定表达进行了改编。例如，“感到害怕”的表达被认为暗示不成熟或威胁男子气概，并被改编为“感到害怕”。像“摇晃”这样的表达在克里奥尔语中被修改为“trimble”。为了提高可接受性和可理解性，将陈述改写为问题。
为伯利兹的青少年开发了 RCADS 的伯利兹英语和克里奥尔语版本。跨文化翻译和适应程序可用于其他环境或工具，以便在新环境中验证或使用之前，对心理健康工具进行情境改编。
