Cross-Cultural Translation and Adaptation of the Process-Based Assessment Tool (PBAT) to Brazilian Portuguese: A Methodological Approach for Ensuring Linguistic and Cultural Equivalence

Background: Process-Based Therapy (PBT) focuses on understanding and guiding individual change processes, diverging from group-based analyses. The approach tailor’s treatment to address individual issues, emphasizing measurable change processes for effective treatment, while recognizing that effective treatments are not constrained by a specific therapeutic orientation or strategy. The process-based assessment tool (PBAT) was developed to provide researchers and practitioners with a guide to a minimal viable set of process-based items. The PBAT is an item pool designed for intensive longitudinal clinical assessment, developed based on the PBT model. Objective: The present study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the PBAT into Brazilian Portuguese. Method: The cross-cultural adaptation process balances literal translation components from one language to the other and an adaptation process that takes into account the culture of the target population. The cross-cultural adaptation process occurred in four major steps: i) translation process; ii) back translation process; iii) evaluation of the semantic equivalence of the preliminary Portuguese version; and iv) pre-test. Result: The analysis of the results from the target population's evaluation was predominantly qualitative, supplemented with indicators such as the Content Validity Index (CVI) to identify potential items requiring adjustments. The results may suggest the effectiveness of the iterative refinement process, potentially increasing confidence in the accuracy and relevance of the translated PBAT for the Portuguese-speaking population. Conclusion: Future research endeavors may benefit from the translated PBAT, enabling a comprehensive exploration of within-person processes and fostering advancements in evidence-based practices.